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2011-08-19T16:47:00.002-05:00

Roadie Report 56 - The New "CCD" and Early In The Spring 2011 - by Camilla McGuinn

2011-05-28T14:05:00.023-05:00

From the window of my office, I felt my face light up with anticipation as I studied the UPS delivery man unloading the boxes of CDs. The “CCD,” Roger’s moniker for the 23 songs of the sea CD, is ready to go to mcguinn.com, CDBaby.com and maybe Amazon.com. Roger has autographed the first copies which will be sold at the Beverly Arts Center in Chicago on June 3, 2011.

Creating the packaging for a CD project is as much fun as the recording. The sea songs recorded for this package reflect the golden age of sail, when wooden ships commanded the waves. History is often missed while singing lyrics to a beat, so we added a bit of historical research to the 8-panel package. All the photos are memories of our travels except the cover. It is the Argonaut, the painting hanging over Roger’s studio desk. The other five photos: 1) Roger looking out a window in Denmark during lunch on a cloudy day, 2) a sailing ship at the museum on the wharf in San Francisco, 3) the ocean swells taken from the Crystal Symphony balcony, 4) a sunset taken on the Crystal Serenity, and 5) a sailing ship’s mast photographed during the spring adventures I’m now writing about.

Getting on the road for a tour is always the most stressful part of touring. We have learned to leave the house under the watchful eyes of some very special people in the late afternoon, prior to the first day we need to drive at least 400 miles. If we leave the house by 1pm, we are usually somewhere wonderful by dinner.
Beautiful Jekyll Island, Georgia has become a favorite first stop. The sandy white beaches, the pristine park environment graced with the unusual modern Hampton Inn which will drive its guest to the local restaurants, beckons us to stay almost every trip when the route begins on Interstate 95.

It isn’t wise for us to drive the van north of Interstate 40 during the months of cold snowy storms. We celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary with the first 2011 concert on April 1st in Vienna Virginia. The weather was warm when we left Florida. I forgot to pack a coat. The cold Virginia air didn’t let me forget about my absent mindedness. Roger assured me there would be a coat for me in a nearby store. What we didn’t count on was the stores were ready for a new season. Summer clothes were hanging on the racks where coats had once spent the winter. It was in the boy’s department of a sporting goods store where I found a hoodie warm enough to keep the chill away.

Monmouth University’s invitation to perform a concert followed by a lecture on a separate day always delights us, it‘s a favorite stop! After the lecture, the students join Roger playing “Mr. Tambourine Man” along with a few other BYRDS hits. Their intense excitement is a real treat to watch.

With four days before the next concert in Natick, Massachusetts, we meandered our way up Interstate 95 until we came to Mystic, Connecticut. After an early dinner, I captured the last photo I needed for “CCD.” Sailing ships docked a short distance from the restaurant were the perfect images to grace the back cover.

Temperature was rising under the bright blue sky during the drive to Williamstown, Massachusetts for a concert at the lovely Sterling Francine Clark Art Institute.
The beautiful college town, surrounded by Berkshire County, can only be reached by scenic country roads. An owner of our lodging, a Swedish Sea Captain’s wife, voiced her great pleasure when she heard “Mr. Tambourine Man” was staying at their Inn. We even got a room with a view.

We quickly navigated home to Florida from Williamstown. The recording, along with the packaging design of “CCD,” required a few more tweaks. After several very productive days, our wheels hit the road again up Interstate 95 to Old Saybrook, Connecticut but our timing was a bit off. The Easter holiday traffic snarls tortured me into gripping the steering wheel all the way from New York City’s George Washington Bridge to Saybrook. All the tension immediately left me the moment we walked into the lovely Saybrook Point Inn & Spa.

The Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center is wondrous, much like the actress herself. Miss Hepburn made Old Saybrook her home. The theater is a fitting tribute to one of our favorite thespians. Before the evening finished, I was emailing Andrea, Roger’s agent, requesting her to please book Roger here again with time for us to explore the picturesque town of Old Saybrook.

A few years ago a gentleman emailed asking if he could produce a DVD about Roger. Audience members often want to buy a recording of Roger’s concert stories. The opportunity for filming an evening of song and stories was just what we needed. The filming of a concert is now in the can or if you’re being technical, on several hard drives. We just need to finish the editing. Beverly, Massachusetts, the home of Paul Erickson the DVD producer, is on the way to Rockport, Massachusettes the town of our next concert. Paul, with Al Mercuro, has been very diligent arranging interviews with some fascinating people. It was a touching, yet humbling experience watching those interviews for the first time. Hopefully the DVD will be ready by the end of this year.

May Day at the newly restored Oneonta Theater in New York, sharing the marquis and stage with John Sebastian was a great way to begin the month. Roger and John have been friends since the early 60s in Greenwich Village. Back in the 60s everyone was in awe of John because he grew up in the Village. Just added to his cool!

In 2006, Jim Dickson, the original BYRDS manager, sent me a note asking me if I would write about some of his history for the McGuinn BLOG. My knees wobbled just thinking about writing Jim’s memoirs, the Byrds’ godfather. I barely knew Jim but as the writing progressed with email notes from him, I met a new friend. On May 3, Roger’s son Patrick, who is also the stepson of Jim’s former business partner, the late Eddie Tickner, told us Jim had passed away quietly in his apartment in California. In his lifetime, Jim’s ear for music influenced many, including the five young musicians he guided into musical history. His legacy will live on and on. Jim’s story is written in Roadie Reports 14, 15 and 39.

Traveling to Woodbridge, New Jersey; Bethel, New York and Ramapo College were stops on the tour before we headed to Hopkins, Minnesota followed by Iowa City, Iowa. Historical theaters are Roger’s favorite venues to sing his songs and tell the stories about his ‘back pages.’

After the Memorial Day Holiday, we will pack the van with copies of “CCD,” four instruments and maybe even a coat. Our journey’s first stop will be south side of Chicago, the part of town where Roger purchased his first 12-string acoustic guitar. The name Rickenbacker was unknown to him back then.

Roadie Report 55 - The End of 2010, Grand Ole Opry 1968 & 2010-by Camilla McGuinn

2011-03-05T13:45:00.038-05:00

Today is the first Saturday in the third month of the year 2011. The past month was filled with filing the tax return, reading so many contracts that I felt like I should have gone to law school and unpacking suitcases. I woke up remembering that we always called the last day of the week “creative Saturday.” Our travels have kept us away from my desk for so long, that notes were coming in from the fifteen readers of the BLOG urging me to get back to work. My excuses are now over...it is time to write.

I loaded all the pictures in my camera onto my computer. The pictures remind me of our adventures but while perusing the snapshots, I couldn’t remember how far back to go. There was only one choice. I had to do something I seldom do – I had to read the BLOG. Then I found myself reliving all the stories, so I gave up the idea of writing today and decided just to load the pictures.

Well, it was a short lived decision. Time had come for me to reflect on the last months of 2010 or they would be lost forever in the cobwebs of my mind.

2010 began with Roger sharing stories, aka lectures, on the cruise ship, The Queen Victoria while traversing through the Panama Canal. The work year ended in November with another cruise through the same canal on the Crystal Symphony. The sister ship of the Symphony, the Crystal Serenity, was the first ship that invited Roger to give his lecture, “How Folk Music Took Me to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” Guests of the Crystal Cruise Line are treated so wonderfully, they will take a voyage whenever their schedules allow. On board, we re-acquainted ourselves with several couples who had sailed with us to Lisbon. It felt like a joyous family reunion. They appreciated the new stories Roger had added to the lectures. He realizes fans love to hear the same songs and stories but really enjoy the slight changes he always tries to add to each concert and lecture.

A highlight of this trip for me was zip-lining through the trees in Caldera, Costa Rica. Less the 30 folks joined the adventure, but I was totally impressed with a couple in their 80s. The wife was the only one of us who had previously experienced the tree zip.

After we were suited in our harnesses, the guide gave us our safety lecture. It was then I began having second thoughts. Especially when he said we had to stop ourselves on some of the lines and we should remember not to hold on to the wire, lest we lose our arm. Yikes…what if I forgot to let go? No one was anxious to be the first Tarzan or Jane. After the 80 year old lady bravely stepped on the box, I gulped and followed. By the end of the eighth zip-line. I was fearless and vowed to fly through the trees any chance I could get.

After the ship docked in San Pedro, California, a car drove us to downtown Los Angeles. Roger had been invited to an evening of conversation as a fund raiser for Live Talks Los Angeles . We were pleasantly surprised by the downtown development of Los Angeles. When we lived there, we never ventured to the city neighborhood. Now it has some wonderful restaurants and is beginning to feel like a place meant for walking. Los Angeles has always been a city for wheels, not for feet.

On the second day of adjusting to solid ground, we boarded AMTRAK's Coast Starlight for San Francisco so we would be close to Pleasanton, the location of the next concert. Our enthusiasm for our January experience in the early 20th century condo we rented was infectious enough to cause two friends to join us in the building to celebrate the Thanksgiving feast. It felt like a college dorm with cooks running between two condo kitchens. The aroma of roasting turkey wafted up the few steps that separated our condos to the scent of the baking pumpkin and apple pies.

The concert at the Pleasanton Theater on the Sunday after Thanksgiving was delightful. The only sad part was watching the people who had hoped to get tickets for the sold out show, leave without hearing the music.

Early in the morning of Nov 29th, we found our compartment on the California Zephyr train to Chicago. Once again, we were re-tracing our January trip, but this time we were spending four days in the windy city. Roger was returning to his alma mater, the OLD TOWN SCHOOL of FOLK MUSIC, for a concert and a fund raiser.

Living in the San Francisco condo for a short time gave us a feeling of being city residents. Even though Chicago is Roger's hometown, we both wanted that city resident feeling again so we decided to rent a condo in Chicago from the same website. The condo was perfectly situated on the 57 floor of a building and even had a Whole Foods Market on the ground floor. The weather was cold and snowing. It gets real cold in Chicago when the wind blows, but we never had to leave the building except to go to work. Our city resident experience became very vertical.

One of the Old Town School guitar instructors invited Roger to come to his class on our day off. The guitars were almost bigger than some of the students. We walked into the classroom while three of the older girls were getting settled in their seats. I began telling them that Roger had so diligently studied and practiced the guitar that when he was 17 years old, he began his professional career. That was 50 years ago. I noticed a blank stare and thought they weren’t comprehending the 50 years part of the story. I explained that 50 is one half of 100. They shook their heads and slightly rolled their eyes.

During the class, Roger played his guitar solo to Eight Miles High. A teacher overheard one of the girls whisper to to her friend, “He’s awesome!” The other replied, “Well he’s been playing for 55 million years!”

The train ride home from Chicago had a change in Washington DC with a 6 hour layover. As we were getting off the train, we met an interesting lady who called herself, Miss Lucas. Someday I might write about that encounter.

The Washington train station is one of my favorite transit places to spend a forced amount of time. The historic train station houses numerous tourist shops and an upscale shopping mall. We spent a delightful afternoon in a lovely restaurant tucked away in a corner of the station.

When people ask Roger to name the guitar players he most admires, Marty Stuart is at the top of the list. Marty plays guitar in the same intricate style of Clarence White and even owns one of Clarence’s guitars that he played in the BYRDS. Marty is a regular on the Grand Ole Opry and has always felt Roger should make a return appearance to bring a peaceful closure to the ill fated BYRDS’ performance in 1968.

1968
CBS records had enough clout to get the rock group the “BYRDS” on the mother radio of country music WSM’s, Grand Ole Opry. The group had broken with the rock tradition and recorded a whole album of country music. It wasn’t the BYRDS first foray into the country sound. They had previously recorded songs in the country vein on “Turn,Turn,Turn, “5D” and “Younger Than Yesterday,” but never devoted an entire album to the genre. Even Roger’s “Mr. Spaceman” embraced the country beat. The “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” album marked the first time a rock group dared to venture wholeheartedly into the country realm.

The live radio format of the “Grand Ole Opry” makes timing a critical element. At rehearsals, stop watches are marking every second. During the afternoon rehearsal of the show, the BYRDS sang two songs from “The Sweetheart of the Rodeo” album. The chosen single, “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” and another tune on the album, a song penned by Country music legend Meryl Haggard, “Sing me Back Home.”

The band was serious about the authenticity of the album and even cut their hair to appease the country audience. The first song the group sang on the live show, “You Ain’t Going Nowhere,” came off without a hitch but it was the second song that got the group blackballed from the Opry. Just before they began the count for the song, Gram Parsons walked up to the microphone and made a very bold statement. “We were suppose to sing a Meryl Haggard song, but my grandma has been listening to the Grand Ole Opry all of her life and I want to sing a song I wrote for her.” With that departure from the script, Gram began singing his song “Hickory Wind.” Roger looked to the side of the stage and the director looked like he had just swallowed something very disagreeable. Skeeter Davis was the only smiling face when they left the stage and walked out of the Ryman auditorium to the trailing echos of, "They'll never be invited back."

December 10, 2010:
The Grand Ole Opry show moved from the Ryman Auditorium to the Grand Ole Opry House in Opryland on March 16, 1974. During this Christmas season, it moved the radio show back to the Ryman because the Rockettes were performing on the Opry House stage. It was a poetic moment on the old Ryman stage when Marty Stuart announced his special guest, Roger McGuinn. They sang “You Ain’t Going Nowhere,”“Turn, Turn, Turn,” and “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Roger still hasn’t had a chance to sing that sweet Meryl Haggard song, “Sing Me Back Home” at the Opry, but he now sometimes delights audiences with this story and sings the song in his concerts.

Just before Christmas, a film crew from the BBC came to Orlando to interview Roger about the influence of the British invasion on America … the musical invasion. The show should be released in the United Kingdom before Roger’s concert tour there in October 2011.

In January, we were counting our blessings. The Crystal Serenity invited Roger to lecture on the first leg of its world cruise. There was one problem, we had to fly from Orlando to Los Angeles to board the ship, then fly home from Tahiti. We’re not fearful of flying for ourselves, but we have had guitars that didn’t fare to well. Have you seen the video “United Breaks Guitars?” It is not only United Airlines who breaks guitars. One airline promised to treat our luggage with “kid gloves.” Roger has laughingly mentioned that the only kid gloves that were used with his guitar were the ones the baggage crews were wearing when they drove a fork lift through the guitar case.

Our guitar dilemma was solved when author Greg Iles showed up at a Rock Bottom Remainders gig rolling a large guitar case. It immediately caught our attention and within weeks, we had four cases made for Roger’s working axes. We could now fly with a guitar.

We arrived in Los Angeles the day before the ships departure to be available for another BBC interview. The theme for this interview was "guitars" and thanks to our new rolling case, Roger was very happy to have the Roger McGuinn Martin HD7 guitar sitting on his lap. I understand this show will also air before the October 2011 United Kingdom tour.

The Crystal Serenity’s voyage to Tahiti had one stop in Hawaii where we enjoyed lunch with a dear friend. The rest of the time we were on the open ocean until the mountains of Moorea appeared on the early morning horizon.

Roger spent 13 days without checking email or getting telephone calls. Wow … he didn’t even miss it! Maybe I shouldn’t have written that comment - his reputation as a “techie” could be in jeopardy. Oh well, anyone 55 million years old doesn’t really have to worry about his reputation.

Roadie Report 54 - 100 YEARS!

2010-09-18T13:28:00.027-05:00

Dorothy McGuinn

Even with the heat, this summer in Florida has been wonderful because we were here for a lot of it. The garden received care, the closets were purged and best of all, the sound of music was coming from Roger’s studio. The Jolly Roger decided to compile a CD of his favorite songs of the sea. But before summertime living kicked in, there was a westward drive for a few concerts and most importantly, Dorothy’s 100th birthday party. Dorothy is Roger’s amazing, emailing mother!

The first stop was at the Summit Road Studios in Parker, CO to visit Linda and Don Debey, before we went on to Denver for a concert at the L2 Arts and Cultural Center on July 24th. Wild Bill Cody arrived early to help man “the lemonade stand” and friends from Ohio, Linda and Bill, joined us for a quick reunion.

Driving south to Tucson was fun because there is a favorite Mexican restaurant that has real tacos with shredded beef in Albuquerque.

Our arrival in Tucson was the day before the big party. Folks were coming from England and from all over the United States for the celebration. Even though Dorothy didn’t want to be involved in the details, she insisted on an expedition to a Mexican restaurant to taste the food that would be served to her guests. She wanted the Out-of-towners to experience a good Southwestern meal.

Cousin Carolyn arranged for the venue. Brother Brian and son Patrick procured the soft drinks, beer and ice. Celia and Jim supplied the sound system and we were in charge of appetizers, flowers, decorations, champagne and music.

On the day of the party, I felt like we were contestants in a reality TV show. Roger and I needed to buy all of the decorations and food in the morning before the venue was available for us to prepare food and decorate at 1pm. On the way to get helium tanks for the balloons, I took a wrong turn, which put me in an unfamiliar parking lot. I was about to turn around, when my eye caught the silver reflection of something in a store window. It looked like a good decoration for the tables, so I parked the van and ran into the store. Roger went into a neighboring store to find a Hawaiian shirt because Brian thought it would be a good idea for both of them to wear one at the party. It turned out that there were a few other similar shirts worn at the party.

The silver sparkling pieces were perfect, but I couldn’t find the price. At an appropriate moment I raised my voice to ask the clerk if he could tell me the cost. Suddenly everyone in the store stopped what they were doing and stared at me with a very strange look. Even the clerk looked puzzled as he hesitantly replied with almost a question in his voice, “A dollar?” Then I got it…I was in a DOLLAR STORE! I had never been in one before. Everything was a dollar! I felt like I was the winner of a big prize.

When Roger walked in victoriously with his new shirt, my cart was filled to overflowing with wonderful decorations for the party. We filled our van with the finds of the century for the centenarian, but there was one more a strategic stop for food and all the yellow flowers we could find. We arrived at the venue right on schedule.

Dorothy’s favorite colors are blue and yellow, so Roger began filling 100 balloons in those shades with helium. I began to panic. He would be busy for a long time. There was just me and Karen, Cousin Carolyn’s roommate, fixing the appetizers for 70 people. Thankfully, Phil, a Florida neighbor who knows I always need help when preparing for a party, showed up and began helping Roger fill the balloons. I found myself getting envious of the laughter that was coming out of their corner.

With Phil’s arrival my anxiety level lessened about 1% but I began thinking that my plans were bigger than my abilities. I left a note at our hotel for another couple of Florida friends to come to the venue for sound check as soon as they checked in. Bruce Kula, a close friend and gifted musician, was going to join Roger in serenading Dorothy at the party. The note was the first time he heard that his talents had been conscripted. Cynthia and Bruce arrived before Jim finished installing the sound system, so there were two more chefs in the kitchen. Over the years, the Kulas have grown accustomed to my propensity for drafting all available hands for any job that needs to be done.

At 3pm Brian and Patrick arrived with the beverages and the ice. Patrick volunteered his mother’s services to pick up all the forgotten items on her way to the party. At 4:30 the sound check was complete and by 5pm, Roger and I were smiling! The room was ready for the Special Lady’s arrival at 5:30!

Dorothy always loves to have parties last into the early hours of the next morning. Around 10pm, the room was closed, but the party was to continue at Dorothy’s house. Friends who had flown great distances were invited back for what they thought would be one last glass of champagne. What they didn’t expect was that Dorothy insisted everyone stay until midnight! She wanted her 100th year and her 101st year to end and begin with a party.

The next night, John and MaryAnn along with Janice and Barry, a BYRDS’ fan who had kept in touch with Dorothy ever since she was the head of the BYRDS fan club, came over for one last visit. Roger and I were departing early the next day, so we left at 9pm. Dorothy insisted everyone else stay until midnight. That special woman has been known to wear out even the energizer bunny!

From Tucson, we drove to San Francisco for some meetings, then on to Napa for a few days of quiet catching up with the business that is always waiting. We stayed at the home of Andrienne Graves (Roadie Report 51). She joined us two days later when she took us to the boutique vineyard, ELAN.

The Elan Vineyard is about 10 miles up the very narrow Atlas Peak Road in Napa. Our first glimpse of the house mentally transported us to Tuscany. The beautiful house was surrounded by the vineyards. Patrick and Linda, the proprietors, prepared a wonderful Italian dinner to share with us under the stars in their courtyard. We ate, we laughed and Roger sang all their favorite songs while playing his 7-string guitar. I kept looking around for evidence of movie cameras – it was a perfect scene and it was hard to grasp that it was real.

Monterey is a wonderful stop when driving from Napa to Southern California. This was the first trip that we ever took the time to walk for miles enjoying the coastline, the unique trees and the sea lions.

On October 13, Roger was invited to open the show for Joan Baez at the Queen Mary Park in Long Beach, CA. The park is next to the original Queen Mary which has been converted into a hotel. We spent two lovely nights on the ship, often reminiscing about our recent trip on board the Queen Victoria.

The Queen Mary is a lovely Art Deco walk through history and it also has a wonderful restaurant that I had visited in 1971 to celebrate loved ones birthdays. After the concert I took friends on a tour of the decks. I think Mackenna and Hayden, 13 & 14 years old, we more smitten with Blake, a Florida neighbor, and his friends than they were with my dissertations of history. They did find it amusing when their beautiful, six foot tall mother and I played hopscotch on the shuffle board.

Roadie Report 53 - PBS Taping & WSM - 1968 & 2010 - and Space Explorers by Camilla McGuinn

2010-07-10T12:32:00.025-05:00

The month of May held three more adventures before summer vacation could commence. The first one was in Pittsburg to tape a concert for a PBS fund raiser. This was a gathering of friends; it definitely didn’t feel like work. Laughing with Barry McGuire and John York was delightful.

The producer of the show, T.J. Lubinsky, arranged for the group Ju-Taun to sing harmonies with Roger. These good looking men had all the female staff buzzing. I felt privileged that the young ladies confided in me which singer they picked as their favorite from the group. The guys were young enough to be my sons, so I picked all of them as my favorite.

From Pittsburg, we crossed the mountains for Nashville.

As we drove to our downtown hotel, we noticed big disaster relief trucks. The flood didn’t get as much media coverage as the damage warranted. Lives were lost, countless homes and businesses were significantly affected by the early May flooding. National landmarks including Opryland, The Country Music Hall of Fame and the beautiful Schermerhorn Symphony Center all had disaster relief trucks parked in front of them.

When we are in Nashville we try to connect with the amazing guitar player, John Jorgenson. John recorded on “Back From Rio” and “Limited Edition.” This time, John was in California for a “Desert Rose” reunion with Chris Hillman. While John was riding down Interstate 5, he texted Roger the story of coming home from touring Europe and finding his guitars covered in mud, diesel oil and sewage.
Many musicians lost not only their treasured instruments that were stored at Soundcheck Instrument Storage, but also their cars that were parked there while they were away on tour.

But with all the horrific happenings, Nashville was not whining. Nashville was rebuilding and the people were all pitching in to help their neighbors.
Roger had a concert scheduled at the Belcourt Theater and even though we offered to postpone the evening, the audience was happy the show went on.

The day before the concert our schedule was jammed packed with radio interviews at WSM, Sirius Radio and the live radio show “Live at the Loveless Café."

Radio station WSM is temporarily being broadcast from an original building by the radio tower because it was flooded out of its Opryland studio. Roger was hoping he would recognize it as the same studio he walked into in 1968, but it wasn’t the same building.

1968:
The Byrds always appreciated a country beat. Their albums ,“Turn,Turn,Turn,” “5th Dimension,” ‘Younger Than Yesterday,” and “Notorious Byrd Brothers” included a country influence with the tracks “Satisfied Mind,” “Mr. Spaceman,” “Time Between,” and “Girl With No Name,” and “Old John Robertson.” It wasn’t until, Chris Hillman met a young rich kid in a Hollywood bank that the Byrds knocked rock’n’roll out of the studio for a moment and headed to the home of country music, Nashville, Tennessee.

Roger and Chris were looking to hire a few more musicians. Roger wanted to take the BYRDS into the world of John Coltrane as he did in “Eight Miles High.”
When Gram showed up at the rehearsal studio, Roger asked him to play piano. He played a rhythm similar to Floyd Cramer. The performance didn’t blow Roger away but he felt they could work with Gram. Then they all got stoned.

Gram Parsons wanted to be Hank Williams more than Chris Hillman wanted to be the Bakersfield sound or Roger McGuinn wanted to be Pete Seeger. Gram’s desire was infectious.

After a musical change of direction was orchestrated, Gram’s dream was closer to reality when Nashville became the recording target for the next album. Cowboy hats were purchased, along with a black Eldorado.

It was a common practice for the Byrds to record a Bob Dylan song. The twang of Mr. Dylan could pass for a mountain kid or at least a hobo and sure enough he had a song to sing for this country inspired album dubbed, “Sweetheart of the Rodeo.”

The studio was filled with some of the best pickers in town. Earl P. Ball on piano, Lloyd Green and Jay Dee Maness on steel guitar, John Hartford on fiddle, banjo and guitar and Roy M. “Junior” Huskey on bass. There was also the six-string virtuoso, Clearance White, who later became one of Roger’s closest friends.

When the single was released, Roger made a journey to the famed WSM studios in hopes that the biggest country DJ in the country would play the chosen single from the album, “You Ain’t Going Nowhere.”

By then Roger had cut his hair and was trying to look respectable for the country gentleman. Mr. Emery played the single on a preview turntable, listened to the first verse, then turned to Roger and adamantly said, ‘I’m not going to play that on my show.”
“Ah..why not?”
“What’s it about?” Ralph flatly demanded.
Spellbound, Roger shrugged his shoulders and answered, “I don’t know. It’s a Bob Dylan song.”

Ralph grunted, and then proceeded to change his voice with a twang that would encourage the truckers driving down the highway to buy themselves a Clark truck seat.

A few months later while sitting in a London hotel room, Roger and Gram were reminiscing about that DJ who wouldn’t play their record in Nashville. They were roaring as they were mimicking his “trucker’s voice.” Ralph wasn’t a trucker… he was more like a drugstore truck driver, in the same vein of drugstore cowboys. That night a song was born, “Drugstore Truck Driving Man.”

2010

The “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” was a recording disaster in 1968. It was shunned by the rock and country stations. Time has healed the blow; it was listed as #117 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of all Time. The humor of the time is now welcome. The DJs at WSM, Bill Cody and Charlie Mattos, encouraged Roger to tell the “Sweetheart” stores for their country music audience. No one is offended anymore about a bunch of Los Angeles hippies who wanted to play in the country music mecca. The sounds have all blended.

At noon, Roger recorded an interview for the Sirius radio show Deep Tracks.

That evening, we went to the rolling countryside outside of Nashville to the Loveless Café. There Roger sang three songs as a guest artist for the radio show recorded live to an enthusiastic audience. One of the songs he sang was "Drugstore Truck Driving Man." During the performance, he began to feel remorse about a line in the song and didn't want to sing it. The line “he has him a medal he won in the war. It weighs five hundred pounds and sleeps on his floor.” slipped out even as he was trying to skip over it. The internal editing didn't happen soon enough.

Roger didn’t mention the problem until later at the hotel when I told him that all of a sudden during the show; I was hoping he wouldn’t sing that line in the song. I was thinking about my father’s medal from the Viet Nam war which was given to him because he came home on a stretcher, The Purple Heart. It certainly doesn’t sleep on our floor. That’s when Roger confirmed he didn’t want to sing the verse either. He now felt that he and Gram were too flippant and stoned when they wrote that line. What seemed funny for years, no longer did. He declared he wasn’t going to sing that verse again.

The Astronauts Hall of Fame ceremony was held on June 5th. A few hours before Guy Bluford, Jr, Ken Bowersox, Frank Culbertson, Jr and Kathy Thornton were inducted; we were invited to join a group of astronauts to tour the hangar where the space shuttles, Atlantis and Endeavour were being worked on.

Whenever we are blessed to be in the presence of Astronauts, we always try to be flies on the wall and that means that we are always at the back of the bus. We were the last ones off the bus for the tour of the hangar. The group was separated into five smaller groups. Since we were the last group, our guide asked which shuttle we wanted to see. I heard a voice behind me quietly say, “Endeavour.” I knew the voice of Hoot Gibson. He was the pilot of the 1992 Endeavour mission. The opportunity to closely view the space shuttle with him prompted me to say loudly, “Endeavour!” And so it was with great excitement that we walked around, under and over a space shuttle with an astronaut who had piloted it acting as our family photographer.

The month of June was gone before I had even unpacked or planted a lot of summer flowers. Today, I’m packing again. Tomorrow we are headed to Denver for the July 24th concert at the L2 Arts and Cultural Center. From Denver, we go to Tucson to celebrate the Special Lady’s 100th birthday! After that special celebration, Roger will have a re-union with Joan Baez as he opens the show at The Queen Mary Park in Long Beach California on August 13.

Come say hi to me at my “lemonade stand.” I love hearing your stories.

All photos by Camilla except the one by that Space Explorer as noted and the album cover of "Sweetheart of the Rodeo."

Roadie Report 52 - The Moon, Wordstock, Woodstock & Friends by Camilla McGuinn

2010-06-14T15:59:00.024-05:00

The weather was perfect on Easter morning 2010. While the sun was shining and the birds were chirping I looked out into the garden and noticed that the Easter Bunny had left eggs and balloons scattered under the bushes and flowers. That silly bunny didn’t realize that the only neighborhood kids lived next door. Thankfully, Mia and Bryce came over and picked up all those eggs filled with candy and toys. While they were busy finding baskets full of goodies, the grown-up neighbors were busy munching and catching up on the times we missed with them while we were away.

The invitation for The Apollo XIII 40th Anniversary event, scheduled for April 9 arrived to shouts of joy. That mission was NASA’s most “successful failure” and immortalized in the Jim Lovell,Jeffrey Kluger book and the Ron Howard film, Apollo 13.

On the night of the anniversary, I laughed and cried as I listened to Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, Gene Kranz (project engineer) and Charlie Duke (the Lunar Module back up pilot who inadvertently exposed the rest of the crew to German measles) re-live the mission. Words cannot convey the sense of awe that we had that evening in the presence of our space heroes.

We had another reason to be on the Space Coast. The Gold Tone Banjo factory had repaired a 'bandolin' for Roger. Gold Tone was founded by Wayne and Robyn Rogers. Our first encounter with their banjo artistry was at the 2009 Folk Alliance conference when Roger was the Keynote Speaker. The banjo was the stringed instrument that landed Roger his first professional job with The Limeliters. When he saw the OT-800 Long Neck Gold Tone, he felt it was time to add another ax to his tool chest.

It was lunch time after we toured the craftsman factory, so Wayne and Robyn took us to the famous Dixie Crossroads Seafood Restaurant on Garden Street in Titusville. Wayne had gone to school with the gregarious owner, Laurilee Thompson. The fresh shrimp she served was enhanced by the stories she told us about her days as a shrimp boat captain. As she spun her tales of the sea, I envisioned the movie of her life.

On April 15, we paid our taxes, packed the instruments in the van and set the GPS for the stage of the beautifully restored 1939 Art Deco Theater now called the Don Gibson Theater in Shelby, NC. The theater was named for the local boy who penned the Ray Charles hit,”I Can’t Stop Loving You.”

Washington DC was the second stop of the tour. Roger was invited to join The Rock Bottom Remainders for the first concert of their 2010 “Wordstock Tour.”

The energy these authors exude always amazes us. They are up early doing all they can to promote these charity concerts. They don’t slow down until security knocks on the hospitality suite door in the wee hours of the morning telling them to lower the music and go to bed. They even steal time for sightseeing trips. This tour was no different. The two days in DC were hit with a barrage of radio and television interviews, an evening conversation panel directed by Sam Donaldson, receptions, a rehearsal at XM studios, dinners whenever time permitted but most of all fun!

We woke up one morning for one of those early TV interviews. Listening to Scott Turow and Roger tell stories during the morning DC rush hour was worth the blurry eyes. We arrived in the green room of the FOX-WTTG TV show just as the tag for the interview was playing on the monitor. David Tauler, another guest on the show with the band “House of Echo ,” ran to the TV screen, pointed at the picture of Roger and declared, “Hey! He’s going to be here!” The look on his face was priceless, when Roger walked up to him, smiled and said,”And here he is now.”

We escaped for a quiet lunch to fortify ourselves, and then we met everyone at the NPR studios for a Tiny Desk concert in their offices. It was a good thing Roger remembered to bring his acoustic guitar; he was the only one with an instrument. There had been no rehearsal or even conversation about what was happening, so when Roger walked into the room, there was a quick huddle to come up with a song that was in the public domain or one that had no copyright issues. Fortunately, Roger had recorded “The John B's Sails” aka “Sloop John B” with Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson and Gregg Iles on the Folk Den Project a few year earlier. Everyone remembered the words and the live performance was recorded. Dave Barry gave a wonderful introduction. Let’s hope this link stays up on the NPR site for a long time.

The Rock Bottom Remainders left Washington DC on the rails for Philadelphia; we left on the highways for Rockwell Hall at Buffalo State University in Buffalo, NY where Maria Sebastian opened the concert for Roger.

Two days later, we met up with John Sebastian (no relation to Maria) in Tarrytown, NY at the Tarrytown Music Hall. Roger loves going back to his childhood town but this time was even more special with not only a re-union with John but one with his “Thunderbyrd” producer, Don DeVito.

A week before the next concert, we checked into the Sheraton Lincoln Harbor hotel in Weehawken, NJ. The hotel was the base for radio interviews and meetings. It is so easy to catch the ferry right out of the front door of the hotel to New York City. After several days of business meetings, we enjoyed an engaging dinner with Patrick, Roger’s oldest son.

1958 was the year Steve McQueen made his debut performance on the big screen. It was that performance I saw while sitting in the back seat of a 1956 Ford sharing popcorn with my brother at the drive-in theater in Beaufort, SC. It was the first horror movie this 7 year old had ever seen. Steve McQueen’s performance in the “THE BLOB” could not mar the fear I felt for years when I had to sleep in a room with a heater vent on the wall. I think the only reason I don’t close the vent now is because it is on the ceiling.

Well, our next concert in Phoenixville, Pa at The Colonial Theater was the very same theater that “The Blob” oozed out of in 1958. I moved my “lemonade stand" close to the door just in case I heard screams coming from the auditorium. Roger thought my disturbed thoughts were so funny, that he told my story to the audience during his show.

Roger and Pete Fornatale, a New York City DJ, became friends many years ago. Every year Roger would go to WNEW for the annual Roger McGuinn update on Pete’s show ‘Mixed Bag.” Pete probably knows more of Roger’s history than I do. His latest book, “Back To The Garden: The Story of Woodstock” is filled with stories of the musicians who were at the 1969 gathering on Yasgur’s farm. Pete also presents a video lecture about those times and that is how he delighted the audience prior to Roger’s concert in Morristown, NJ.

This tour developed a theme of its own...Wordstock, Woodstock and old friends.

On the way to Valparaiso, IN, we stopped to see more friends in Dublin, OH. They always fill us with meals meant for kings and lots of loving memories.

In February 1898, John Phillip Sousa conducted his band through the doors of The Memorial Opera House in Valparaiso, IN. The stage has seen Vaudeville greats, including the Marx Brothers. On May 8, 2010, the stage was gracefully set for Maria Sebastian to open the evening for Roger McGuinn.

Next Blog: A visit to WSM Radio station, Nashville TN- The past -1968 and the present- 2010:-) I'm on summer vacation, so the next BLOG will be up sooner than normal.I'm not rushing around trying to pack for the next tour. It is great to have time in the summertime!
All photos by Camilla

Roadie Report 51 - Macworld and San Francisco in February 2010

2010-04-06T13:05:00.044-05:00

MACWORLD 2010-GEEKS COMMUNICATING

During the early hours of January 27th, we watched from our balcony as the Queen Victoria glided through the fog under the Golden Gate Bridge for its maiden port call in San Francisco at Pier 35.

After one last meal a Table 18, goodbyes were said to the staff and to our new friends, then we caught a taxi to the Nob Hill condo we had rented sight unseen.

At first glance, the outside of the 3 story structure that had survived the “Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906” didn’t exactly give me confidence that I had made the right choice. The website did show the outside, but it was the modern remodel on the inside that caught our attention. I was holding my breath as we carried the luggage and guitar through the locked foyer, up a few stairs and unlocked the door to our home for the next two weeks.

Roger was the first to walk into condo. I exhaled when he turned around to look at me with a big smile on his face and said, “Sweet!”

The pictures on the web site of VRBO didn’t lie. I chose this particular place because of the modern kitchen, bathroom and the charming front bedroom that had a view of the street all the way to the bay. The condo building is situated at a corner stop of two of the cable car lines (sfcablecar.com). Even though we had ridden the cable cars on previous trips to San Francisco, I always felt like a tourist and insecure as to how to get on and off the antique cars. This time I researched the Cable Car Website to learn all about riding the cars like a native.

We wanted to do everything and go everywhere at once, but the Glaucoma Research Foundation was sending a car to pick us up at 3:30pm to sound check for their annual fund raiser. It was a formal affair, so we needed to unpack our clothes and get ready quickly.

The Glaucoma Research Foundation brings together scientists and pharmaceutical companies to do research on finding a cure for the leading cause of uncorrectable blindness in the world. After the sound check, we sat in the back of a room listening to doctors tell of their new discoveries. Roger will probably always have to place stinging eye drops in his blue eyes twice a day in perpetuity, but because of continuing research there is hope this necessity will not be inevitable.

At the gala dinner, we were seated at the table sponsored by the Santen Pharmaceutical Company. The lovely and energetic CEO, Dr. Andrienne Graves quickly became a friend for life. Not only did we have a common interest in ophthalmology, we all loved to entertain while cooking. When she shared that interest with me, I said, ‘We’re here for two weeks. Roger’s schedule isn’t full yet - let’s cook!” Andrienne immediately made plans for us to cook in her home in Napa on February 5.

The morning after the fund raiser, we arrived at KFOG radio station to chat on the morning show and for Roger to play a live version of “Eight Miles High.” A UC Berkeley professor driving to his class on the campus was listening to the radio show. Dr. Amundson had just used a YouTube video of “Turn, Turn, Turn” in one of his lectures. When he heard that Roger was in the Bay area to be a guest at the Macworld convention, he decided to pursue the possibility of Roger coming to his class. Roger’s agent sent us the invitation. Roger loved the opportunity to speak to students in an open forum. The two week schedule was filling in.

The early hour of the KFOG interview was an extra blessing because the streets of San Francisco were beckoning. The weather was beautiful. The DJ told us that sunshine had hidden itself for weeks until that day. Since the sun was shining, and the affect of being on the ocean for 19 days was still swaying our balance, we decided to walk down to Fisherman’s Wharf to buy our Cable Car Passports.

Allioto’s on Fisherman’s Wharf was just opening its doors for lunch when we walked by. Being one of San Francisco’s oldest restaurants with a striking harbor view makes it a dining stop for us every time we visit the city. After a light meal of calamari and salad, we strolled to Beach and Hyde Streets to buy the cable car passports and to hop our main San Francisco form of transportation, the cable car. This was better than Walt Disney World!

The condo kitchen was supplied with everything we needed, except food. Fortunately the condo also had free Wifi. Google maps showed us all the grocery stores close to the cable car lines. We found a natural food store, a cheese shop and a wine store all on Polk Street, just 3 blocks from the cable stop on Hyde and Pacific.

Ted and Jeanmarie, our New York tablemates from the Queen Victoria, made reservations for us to meet at Yank Sing for lunch on Friday, Feb 29. We walked three steps out of the front door, caught the cable car to California St. Then we caught the California Line to Market and jumped off just a block from 101 Spear St. This award winning Dim Sum restaurant is located in the Rincon Center. A big appetite and reservations are recommended. Ted reserved a table close to the kitchen doors so we would have the first opportunity at the continuous delicious bounty.

Jeanmarie mentioned that they enjoyed the Moss Room Restaurant at the California Academy of Sciences. Adrienne Graves had also recommended that we go to the museum, so with cable car passes in hand we took the cable car to the Light Rail Line ”N” to Judah. Got off on Irving St and 9th Ave, and then walked to the museum. (The passes are honored on all the public transportation within the borders of SF)

San Francisco is a city of food and we planned on tasting as much as we could but the condo was so delightful, we began entertaining friends immediately.

Janet and Steve Wozinac knocked on the door that Sunday evening. It was our first meeting with Steve’s bright and charming bride. We were also touched that they would take the time to stop by for a visit. I only wished they could have made it for dinner. I couldn’t wait to cook for folks in our San Francisco kitchen.

We began this San Francisco adventure with only the Macworld convention on our calendar. Our plan was to live each day as it came. Dinner was served in our kitchen 4 different evenings for friends from the Rock Bottom Remainders and those “Cranky Geeks". One of my favorite remarks from our flow of guest was, “With the sound of the cable cars, this is like living in old San Francisco.”

The sounds of cable cars from morning until midnight never kept us awake or bothered us. In fact it was the morning cable car that acted as our alarm clock on the mornings we needed to get up at 6:30am.

Everyday Roger and I would shop for food and everyday as we got off the cable car with our groceries, we would look at each other with the same big smile that said, “This is great!”

If the time in SF had been longer, the joy of shopping and cooking might have waned a bit and we would have explored more restaurants. We did experience three other restaurants, besides the two already mentioned, that we have put on our permanent list of restaurants to enjoy:
Zarzuela, a Tapas restaurant and Okoze Sushi. Both of these restaurants are at the Union and Hyde St cable car stop. The third restaurant we found while exploring the Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Building: The Slanted Door, Vietnamese cuisine.

Laurie Hutton, the wife of Three Dog Night member Danny Hutton, and I have been emailing for years. When we realized that our schedules were going to coincide in the Bay area, we arranged to get together. On February 8th, Roger and I caught the ferry to Sausalito and the Hutton’s were waiting for us on the dock. The conversation over lunch included memory lane and plans to make more memories working together in the future. After lunch we caught the 3:00pm ferry back to the city and the cable car to our home on the bay.

Finally, the day came for trip's purpose, the Macworld convention. Of course we went to the convention center on the cable car with Roger carrying his guitar. It was great to see Leo Laporte again. Heather Gold, Warp 11, and Adam Savage were the other show guests. One of my favorite pictures is the one I took of them on stage - eyes glued to their iPhones.

At 8:00am on Feb 13, David and Lou, friends met while playing with the Rock Bottom Remainders, loaded our bags and guitar into their car and drove us to the Amtrak station in Emeryville. The route home to Orlando was through Chicago and Washington, DC. We had a six hour layover in DC, but the train was slowed by the snow, so I only had two hours to shop in the Washington train station. It is one of my favorite United States train terminals.

I was concerned that cabin fever would set in on the 5 day train trip, but both of us were relaxed and busy the entire time. Our Verizon 3G MiFi kept us connected so I could continue working, but there was so much natural beauty passing by the train windows that my concentration was seldom focused on my computer screen - my mind seemed to be in a perpetual dream state.

Roger always has some gadgets with him to keep him busy, but our favorite moments were those when he practiced his guitar and sang songs to me. We were going to be home for a few days, then a trip to Pittsfield, Massachusetts for a concert. After that we would celebrate 32 years of married adventure together on April 1st. Our anniversary date always makes me laugh.

It’s A Wonderful Life.

Oh, by the way. If you think this sounds like a travel guide, the result was intentional. Three of our friends were so enthralled with our adventures on the streets of San Francisco, that they have rented the larger condo in the building for a week in May. They wanted to know just how we did it!

The independent car company sent by Carmen of the Glaucoma Research Foundation is named Compass Limo, 800-699-0746. We highly recommend it when your not jumping on a cable car, especially for airport trips.

Roadie Report 50-The End of 2009 and Beginning of 2010 - by Camilla McGuinn

2010-02-20T13:05:00.019-05:00

I woke up one morning and asked Roger, “Why do we have a house?” He smiled, turned on his laptop and showed me the live camera view in our home. “This is why. We love living there when we are there.”

We barely had time to unpack from our European tour before we were driving on the highways up to Minnesota. Skyline had booked six concerts during a two week time period. It gave us a chance to explore the state and experience the Minnesota Fall season.

From Minnesota we drove down to the old Route 66 on a westward trek for concerts in California, Oregon and Washington.

Pepperdine University, Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo, the Montavalo Arts Center provided a nice routing up the coast of California to Washington.

John Dvorak, one of those“Cranky Geeks” , met Roger at our hotel in San Francisco and arranged for us to visit his home while we were in Port Angeles, Washington for Roger's last public concert of 2009.

Our wheels rolled onto the driveway of our long missed Orlando home two weeks before Thanksgiving, but we weren’t through with driving. Roger suggested we spend Thanksgiving on a vacation tour of the South Carolina Low Lands. I replied,”What are you nuts!" Didn’t we just drive over 10,000 miles?”

But the man I love is a man of constant adventure, so we packed the home van (it was retired for home duties after 150,000 miles of musical chores), with 4 bags and 2 friends, Pat and Theresa.

Savannah was our first stop. We arrived just in time for dinner at a wonderful old mansion. Time was a bit of an issue, so the next morning we did something we have never done…we went on a trolley tour of the city. That turned out to be a good plan. The Savannah morning was cold and foggy. It is a town of many streets and parks with a trolley load of history. As soon as we finished absorbing the charm of the moss lined streets, we set the GPS for Charleston.

My memories of Charleston always center on the “Cowboy Bob Show.” My brother and I celebrated our October birthdays there when I was 4 years old. I remember telling “Cowboy Bob,” on live TV “I peed in my pants.” He commented, “Oh what a pretty purple bag you have.” Now you know more about me than you ever wanted to know.

It is time for me to get back to telling current adult stories.

I have always wanted to walk the historical streets of Charleston but when we travel with guitars and concert equipment, city parking is always a problem. This time there was no stress handing the keys to the valet attendant because we had only one guitar with us.

For people who never do “tourist tours,” we were about to break our rule one more time, but this tour was different. I had found a walking pub tour on the Internet while looking at reviews for hotels. A young couple decided that tours with a lot of people were no fun, so they began a pub tour of the city shuffling no more than 16 feet. Besides their vast historical knowledge of Charleston, they introduced us to some tasty micro-brewery beers.

After Charleston, we drove 70 miles to my home town, Beaufort, SC. We dropped our bags at an antebellum mansion and then did it again…another tour geared for the tourist! I left the small coastal town when I was 8 years old so this tour was a historical buggy ride through the streets of the 500 year old town. Three tours within three days, each one totally different and each one making us laugh. It seemed odd to be traveling and not to have a concert to arrange. We were really on a vacation.

Friends from Europe always call me when they are coming to the States. Years of riding the roads, staying in roadside hotels and eating out every meal has made us a little knowledgeable about the intricacies of motor touring in this vast country.

Technology has made this a good time to travel. A GPS will keep you on track and the Internet can help you find a hotel.

Our travel is always plotted carefully, yet with always room for adventure. I must know exactly how long it will take us to get from concert to concert. Once that logistical calculation is made, I incorporate the adventure variables.

We always stop driving just before sunset. The hotel should have a restaurant within walking distance. Around 3pm, I calculate how much further we will drive, then go onto the Internet to find a hotel. Another advantage of having a resident techie – he has always found ways to keep us connected on the road. Right now we are using the Verizon MiFi for our constant connection to the information highway.

When we are working, the chain hotels are a good choice for comfort and safety. What once were the low-end hotels of a chain have been upgraded very nicely.Choosing to stay in the same chain of hotels has the benefit of free nights in the luxury part of the hotel brands. I tell people to always check the surroundings of the hotel. This can easily be done with Google maps or even websites where people write reviews. If there is a pawn shop close by…keep driving.

We look for food that has been consistent and fresh. The fast food drive-thru is not a contender for our dinner, but there are some chains that are consistent with quality. The Darden Chain of restaurants ie. Red Lobster or Olive Garden, The Outback and Ruby Tuesdays always have something on menu that we can eat. I do recommend enjoying meals at off-peak eating times. These family friendly restaurants can get busy and loud. Romantic evenings are saved for special dining enclaves.

There was one other mission for our Thanksgiving vacation. We had to find the perfect recipe for “shrimp grits.” GRITS! Yep grits! I was raised on that ground corn meal and we had friends coming from all over the United States to spend New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day with us.

I planned New Year’s Eve to be a gathering with a New Orleans' 1950s theme. Friend Bill called it Sha-na-na meets Bourbon Street, but at the last minute we reminded folks that beatniks were a 50s fringe group. A lot of people dressed in black and berets walked though our front door. The menu on the Eve was Shrimp Etouffee and various goodies sent straight from Louisiana by The Folk Den Project photographer, John Chiasson.

New Year’s Day menu was from my southern roots- shrimp grits and black eyed peas. There was of course the world famous Davis fruit salad…but that is another story.

A few days before Christmas, Roger stood at the door of my office shifting his weight impatiently while I finished a business telephone call. When I finally hung up, he excitedly told me that he had just received an email from Leo Laporte. Leo was inviting Roger to be on his MacWorld Expo panel on February 12. This was something Roger really wanted to do, but I wasn’t sure how we could work the logistics.

I suggested to Roger that he use Frequent Flyer points to fly to San Francisco. He didn’t like that idea. Flying isn’t much fun anymore and he didn’t want to go alone. We decided to think about it for a while.

Ten minutes later, I opened an email from Tim Castle, the agent who booked Roger for lectures on the Crystal Cruise line during our recent European tour. He mentioned that it was very last minute, so he understood if we didn’t want to take an offer from the Cunard Cruise Line for Roger to give two lectures on the Queen Victoria from New York to San Francisco in January.

WOW! A way to get to San Francisco for the MacWorld Convention! I flew down the hall to tell Roger. I didn’t have to ask if he wanted to do it, the smile on his face told me everything I needed to know.

On January 10th, we boarded the train for New York City, our embarkation point for the Queen Victoria. The weather was freezing as we slipped by the Statue of Liberty in the dark of the night.

Dining on board each each evening was filled with the laughter of four different accents. Table 18 was an international gathering of couples from Scotland, Australia, New York and Florida. Bob, our Scottish mate, admitted to us on the last day that for a moment during our first meal, he thought he was at the wrong table because Ted, the New Yorker, and Roger immediately found common ground in the tech world. They were so excited about finding a fellow techie that their conversation lapsed into the jingle of a wired language. Fortunately the nightly conversations soon covered a large range of topics lasting into the late hours of the evenings.

There were three ports before the Panama Canal. Fort Lauderdale, where I got off to get an extension cord; Grand Cayman, where I got off to buy champagne for a sail away party we were hosting on our spacious balcony; and the colorful streets of Cartagena.

As I write this I’m looking at the coast line of Acapulco. Roger gave two lectures about how folk music took him to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. In four days we will float under the Golden Gate Bridge just in time for Roger to sing a few songs for the Glaucoma Foundation annual fund raiser. (Please get your eyes checked every year! Glaucoma is the leading cause of uncorrectable blindness in the world.)

Since we will have to spend a few days in San Francisco before the MacWorld Convention, I found a condo to rent in the Nob Hill district. We’re looking forward to walking up and down that hill to find food and adventure.

Next BLOG..The Streets of San Francisco!

Roadie Report 49- Germany and Home for August - by Camilla McGuinn

2009-09-01T00:01:00.008-05:00

Hamburg, Germany

In my dream world, there are few things more romantic than riding the rails, gazing on a beautiful countryside and eating a plate of cheese and crusty bread with the one you love.

The German countryside is green in July and boasts the most manicured plots of land I have ever seen. The towns are a cross between Hansel and Gretel and Norman Rockwell. Backyard gardens are blooming with flowers and heavily ladened vegetable plants. The canals beg for you to be on a barge drinking in the culture. Germany is an amazing land.

Musing about the landscape from the large window of a comfortable, immaculate train creates an inner tension of wanting to let the gentle rocking of the train send you to dreamland or sitting with your nose to the window so as to not miss a moment of beauty.

The land is spattered with wind mills. Some houses in every town have photo-voltaic solar panels. This is a land going “green” more quickly than my country. To someone who has solar panels on their roof, all efforts to use natural sources of renewable energy are a delight to see.

The Nuremberg concert began in a drizzle, but ended in clear skies and thunderous applause. The promoter kept promising me the rain would stop before the show. His mischievous smile was a mile long when the sky cleared. The venue is located within the only walls left standing of a church that was a victim of World War II bombs.

Roger was deeply moved each time he looked up through the arches at the evening sky as he sang.

As is often the case, the first song he sang for the packed audience was one that he feels conveys his life's story, “My Back Pages.” During the second encore, he asked the audience what they wanted to hear. A man shouted, “My Back Pages!” Roger laughed and said, “Well I sang it to begin with, so why not end with it too!”

Hamburg is a shipping city. We drove there during our 2004 tour, therefore it felt very familiar. The buildings, parks and lakes are beautiful. It is hard to believe that it must have been close to rubble fewer than than 80 years ago.

Our train to Hamburg arrived a day before the concert. A driver met us at the station, drove us to our hotel to deposit our bags, and then drove us to the promoter’s restaurant for an interview and an early dinner. The interview was lively and our meal was outstandingly delicious! We asked the waiter for a portion of broccoli. Finding green vegetables, besides zucchini, is a real treat on the road. The plate of broccoli which accompanied large prawns, a salad and fish would have fed an army. We did our best to eat most of it.

Uwe, the concert promoter, entertained us with tales of Hamburg in the 1960s and the Reeperbahn district where the Beatles had honed their craft. Roger was intrigued and decided he had to go there and pay homage.

The next day we ate another amazing meal at Uwe’s “house” and then made the pilgrimage to the Reeperbahn and the Beatles museum. We only had a few minutes to peruse the archives before we had to leave for sound check, but it was worth the visit.

The Beatle Museum at the Reeperbaum

Leiszhalle is a beautiful performing arts center. After Roger’s sound and light check, I explored the various floors and performing halls. Peter, our German agent for this show, saw me with my head pressed against closed doors listening to the sounds of Gershwin. He insisted upon opening the doors and ushering me inside. A symphony orchestra was rehearsing. We quietly slipped into balcony seats and listened. Peter remarked that it was psychedelic. Listening to Gershwin with that description did shed a new light on the intricacies of “Rhapsody in Blue.”

Leiszhalle

The two hours on the train from Hamburg to Berlin went very quickly. When we arrived, the Ellington hotel lobby was filled with people and luggage. A bus had just deposited a gaggle of tourist. Our time schedule was tight. Roger always needs to eat lunch at 2pm on the day of a show. He doesn’t like singing on a full stomach, but does need the proper protein to last him through the nearly 90 minutes of aerobic exercise required for a show.

We decide to go straight to the restaurant and register after lunch. After settling at a table, I went to wash my hands as Roger ordered. The reception desk was amazingly empty when I walked through the lobby back to the restaurant. So I approached the desk and decided to register.

The clerk informed me that he had bad news. I, in turn informed him, “I don’t have time for bad news.” That remark did not stop him from telling me that the hotel was overbooked and they had made us reservations at another dwelling place. In about two seconds I made a decision.

Peter was arriving on a later train to this hotel. We would be going to the venue together. I decided Roger and I would eat a leisurely lunch and then deal with the problem that the receptionist had presented to us. I figured it would also be helpful for someone who spoke the language to clarify the situation.

Peter was very good at clarifying things when he was told the problem. The hotel manager visited our table with profuse apologies, offered transportation to the new hotel and refused to let us pay for our lunch. Lunch was very good, so we were happy with my decision to eat first and let Peter be the clarifier.

The Berlin concert was presented in a beautiful Lutheran Church. The church is the venue for over 100 concerts a year and the experience is overwhelming.

People from the high balconies were peering down onto the stage and the crowded pews. Peter told me that folks came from the “East” because Roger’s music was not officially allowed in the days when the Berlin Wall had locked gates. This was their first chance for some of the fans to hear the music in person.

Cologne, Germany

The schedule in Germany was arranged so we could have a day off for travel in between concerts. We spent our free day in Cologne walking across the bridge and exploring the city. There is a sweet custom on the Cologne bridge - people in love have their names engraved on a lock and then hang the lock on the fence of the bridge. Must make for a very lucrative business for lock engravers.

On July 13th, Roger’s birthday, he celebrated by doing what he loves …. performing. The Cologne, Germany concert was broadcast for radio. As a reverse birthday gift for the enthusiastic audience, Roger autographed 250 tickets which were given to each fan as they entered the venue.

We traversed the wonderful German rail system to the four remaining concerts: Utrecht, Nederland; Burg Herzberg, Germany; Peer, Belgium; and the last one in Aschaffenburg, Germany. It was important to make train reservations for the German trains even though we had German and Eurail passes. I saved a few dollars by making the reservations in Germany instead of through the US Eurail Pass website. The personal touch in Germany also guaranteed us the seats that had power connections for our computers.

We boarded the train in Frankfurt on July 22 for our connection in Brussels on the Eurostar for London. There was an hour layover at the Cologne train station. In the shadow of the magnificent Cologne Cathedral we sat in a small café reminiscing about the past two months of incredible adventures. This tour had been our longest outside the United States borders and the most adventurous. The decision not to travel via airplane turned out to be a wonderful choice.

The Crystal Serenity crossing over the Atlantic, the overnight trains from Spain and France, several times on the Eurostar under the English Channel and the joy of riding the rails through all the beautiful countries created some very sweet memories, but it wasn’t over yet.

We lodged our last evenings in London at the Grosvenor House, the hotel Jim McGuinn and the Byrds stayed in during their first visit to England. It seemed a fitting way to end the tour; especially since we had a lot of Marriott frequent guest rewards points. All those stays in Marriott Courtyards situated by the highways of America certainly paid off with a nice perk.

Our last day was spent holding hands walking through Hyde Park, eating one last meal at Harrods’s food court and meeting with Nick Peel to discuss the tour and future tours. As we picked up our formal cruise clothes that we had left at his office, Nick asked if we were ready to go home. The look we gave each other was one that said we were torn between being happy and being sad it was over. We replied to Nick, “It will be nice to be home for a short time, but touring is our life.”

The train to Southampton was crowded with people carrying lots of luggage for the passage to North America on the world’s largest ocean liner.

Ocean Liners are microcosms of little nations. We met people on both ships crossing the Atlantic that we hope to sail with again. The world seemed very small when we met and laughed with people during the Queen Mary's Captain’s reception who had conversed with Roger on “Twitter” just a month before.

Verrazano Bridge in the early morning from the QM2

The ship docked a few hours before the first Amtrak train of the day to Winter Park left Penn station. Our tickets were for the second train, but they had one compartment left on the earlier one and it became ours. We slept soundly that night and wondered how we would sleep when the Earth was not moving under our pillows.

The last train ride of the tour.

It was a blessing to walk through our front door. Our caretakers did a wonderful job and all the mail was stacked in twenty different piles on the kitchen counters. Within a few days we were back on a daily schedule which included washing dishes and taking the garbage out, but more importantly connecting with friends and neighbors. In one week we entertained on four separate nights. During the day, I spent hours advancing the upcoming tour to Minnesota, Iowa, California, Oregon and Washington. The back roads of America are beckoning.

I recently received email from Tim, the agent who booked the Crystal Serenity. The Earth's ocean is going to move again under our heads – the Crystal Symphony has confirmed that we will be sailing on cruise #0226 departing Nov 2, 2010 from NYC through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles. Our friends have enjoyed our stories of the Crystal cruise so much that they are going to be booking passage too!

Andrea at Skyline is working on concert bookings along the Amtrak routes back to Orlando. It will be another tour on the sea and rails, this time in the United States. It is time for America to get back on track.

Travel does make the world smaller - what a wonderful world!

Roadie Report 48 - UK and Italy - by Camilla McGuinn

2009-07-13T02:02:00.027-05:00

The rain was pouring when the train pulled out of the Milan train station. Our visit to Italy will always be remembered when I look out a window at raindrops falling on the landscape.

Sound check in Asti was sweltering. Roger was sitting in the hot sun, in an open air square as I quickly rushed the sound check. Back home, in the States, we had decided not to do outside concerts anymore because it always rains. We bent those rules for Italy. A decision we were beginning to regret.

The concert in Udine ended in a rain shower. Roger changed his song order to make sure everyone heard the songs they'd come to hear before they were drenched. He is very aware that people want to hear the songs that are part of the sound track of their lives. The rain didn’t matter. The folks stayed in their seats and begged for a second encore, which he happily sang.

After the sound check in Asti, we returned to our hotel. When Nico, the promoter’s representative, picked us up for the concert, there was a slight drizzle. By the time we got to the venue, the drizzled turned into a full blown gale with lightening flashing in the sky. We knew there was no way Roger could safely play on a metal constructed stage, but there were people who were waiting in the storm to hear “Mr. Tambourine Man.”

I suggested they move the people who had stayed in spite of the storm, inside to a large room I had seen earlier. Once they were all inside, we placed a chair at one end of the room. Roger sat down with his acoustic 7-string guitar. He sang for an hour without any amplification. The audience sang with him. They were friends in his living room. The rain orchestrated a moment that will be forever remembered.

The first few days in Italy were sunny and beautiful. Nico picked us up at the train station in Faenza and suggested he take us to the hotel for a shower. After the overnight, epic trip from Paris, the shower was a welcome luxury. Nick reminded me that we could have flown to Italy in less than 2 hours. This dream didn’t have runways. We worked our way across the Atlantic on a luxury Ocean Liner and we were going to work our way through Europe on rails.

The regional train from Bologna to Faenza was hot and dusty. The antiquated train stations seemed to have a hundred steps to climb with the guitars, equipment and a small bag of clothes. In the course of pursuing a dream it is important to realize that there will be some moments you wished you didn’t have to experience. Roger sought after a dream when he was 14 years old. He had a dream to become a folk singer like Bob Gibson and Pete Seeger. Years of practice, years of peaks and years of valleys were on the road to the dream. His banjo playing landed him a job when he was 17. By the age of 22 he was a rock and roll star, but that wasn’t his dream. “Rock and Roll” was just a turn in the road. He didn’t mind that turn in the road and in fact enjoyed all the moments, but the turn had some very deep valleys.

The overnight train ride was smooth and we slept well. After a quick shower, we were ready to accept Nico’s invitation to go to his hometown of Rimini to eat at his father’s restaurant.

Rimini is a graceful town situated on the Adriatic Sea. As in all of Italy’s cities, history abounds. We were treated to a delicious meal of seafood and pasta before a walk on the beautiful beach. This seaside town is the vacation spot for the Italians.
The beach was filled with families camped under a sea of umbrellas. The cool breezes flowing off the sea made this beach experience delightful. We have lived on the beach but this was different. It wasn’t hot.

After the final Italian concert, Nico drove us from Asti to Milan and dropped us at a hotel that was not too far from the train station. I chose it because I wanted a location that was close to the station, but far enough away that a taxi driver would not be upset at the short ride. Carrying two guitars, an equipment bag and 2 rolling suitcases is not an easy feat after the first flight of stairs. I’m up to 40 push-ups a day, just to handle the lifting.

We checked into the hotel, and then explored the neighborhoods and their grocery stores - my favorite way to become familiar with a culture.

The telephone rang at 5am to wake us up in time to catch the early train to Germany. We have to change trains in Munich to get to Nuremberg. I never understand why we change the spellings of cities to fit our language. Munich is Muenchen in German.

Two elderly ladies are sitting across the table from me in the 4-seat configuration. Roger and I had the two facing window seats, but when I saw their disappointment that they weren’t sitting together, I managed to convey to them by sign language that we could switch seats. Roger moved across the aisle and the two ladies happily sat together, with me facing them. The seat change was very fortuitous. Once the ladies were settled in their seats, the younger one, I guess she is about 75, opened her bag, pulled out antiseptic wipes and began cleaning the table between us, our arm rests and the window sill. After she finished cleaning our abode, she went over to Roger’s seat and cleaned his area.

Roger and I pulled out our computers. I began writing this story and the ladies made sure I looked up whenever something beautiful was passing by – which was most of the time. Usually when I travel, I tend to compare the terrain with areas of my homeland but Italy isn’t like the rest of the world … it is unique. The mountains, the beaches, the cities, the vineyards, olive groves, the architecture and the small towns have a look and feel that I have only found in this boot shaped country. Of course when you add the delicious food into the mixture I have to say, “I don’t think we come here enough.”

We have been saying the same thing about the United Kingdom. The tour on the English rails was packed. Nick Peel, Roger’s agent and Chas Cole of CMP, the UK promoter, were very diligent to fill most of the days with concerts. It was on the trains that we were able to relax and reflect.

We chose to base out of a few towns and have David, the tour representative, drive us to some of the venues in nearby cities. That gave us a chance to explore Liverpool, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Reading, and Bristol.

Summer peaked out from the winter doldrums and the streets of Liverpool were brimming with people soaking in the sun. We needed a good restaurant for Roger’s day of show meal. The concierge at the hotel sent us to Piccolino’s. It is an understatement to say it is the best Italian restaurant in town.

Walking the streets of Liverpool is walking not only through bricks ladened with centuries of history but also with the more recent history of the 1960s. It was the home of the Cavern, the Beatles stomping place before their mania hit the world.

The original Cavern had been demolished, but a new one was built with the same bricks. There is a “Wall of Fame” with the name of performers who graced the stage. Looking at Mick Ronson’s name was like playing homage to a friend. He was one of those talented people whom we will always miss. He was Roger’s friend from the “Rolling Thunder Review” and later a record producer for Roger. I met him only once, but his kind, direct look and sweet words left an indelible mark on my memory. Thank goodness, “Cardiff Rose” is Roger’s living memorial to Mick’s work.

In Edinburgh, Roger was occupied with telephone interviews while I explored the streets. Right across from our hotel was a small pub with a sign in the window, “Folk Music.” I stepped in and asked when and where. The bartender pointed to the corner and said at 9 o’clock. That evening, we stood at the bar sipping a traditional pint and listened to six musicians play violins, guitars and flute. My feet wanted to join the music with the clogging I learned in my youth, but I reluctantly restrained myself.

An American couple approached the bar and ordered two pints. The lady was closest to the bar, so she paid. Her companion told her to leave the change. He made a point of saying that only in the U.K do bartenders like change. I smiled at him and said, “That’s because you just left him a $5.00 tip.”

For years I had thought of Reading just as a train station where we changed trains. On our last visit, we stayed at the beautiful Forbury Hotel, but this time the Ascot Races were on, so the Forbury was booked. I could tell it was Ascot season because ladies were wearing hats all around the town and some of them were quite silly. Fortunately, the Malmaison Hotel had availability and its location is wonderful for walking. We got Roger’s boots fixed, bought some guitar bags and ate at a wonderful Italian restaurant. On our night off, Roger read to me the H.G. Wells story, “War of Worlds” from his iPhone. Roger remarked that the newest version of the movie follows the book more closely than the older one but he wished someone would produce the story reflecting the original 1898 time frame.

June is graduation time in Cambridge. Black robes being followed by proud parents. The pubs were filled with conversations in every language. We thought Cambridge would be the perfect place to get the feel of the English pubs. We went to three. Two were steeped in history. The Miter and The Eagle. A twitter to Roger suggested The Eagle, the college hangout of the twitter pal and a famous watering hole of airline pilots during the war. It was there where we ordered the fish and chips that I had been longing for. Some foods are a must when you visit a country. A plate of fish and chips is an English necessity.

The third pub we visited was on the way home to the hotel after a long walk. The long walk was the result of me getting us lost. We entered the pub with a strong sense of relief, ordered a pint and sat down. On a shelf behind our table was a guitar. Roger asked if he could play it because he hadn’t had his daily practice. The bartender was thrilled. He wanted to learn how to play the guitar. He already knew 2 chords. Roger showed him another one and then sang Bells of Rhymney for a retired gentleman sitting at the bar.

Before the show in Bristol, Roger was invited to play at Glastonbury, the “Woodstock” of England. This wasn’t a CMP date, so Nick offered to be the tour driver. Arriving at the site, with the help of Roger’s GPS, was an awesome experience. It was a city built with canvas. An ocean of tents covered the farmland. I decided to watch Roger’s performance from the side of the stage. The smiles on the audience’s faces emanated throughout Roger’s whole show. They sang all the songs with total abandonment. My smile lasted until the next day.

The train is now stopped in the Verona train station. Just writing the name makes me very thankful for this life of adventure.
Shh…the ladies are sleeping even though the children are chattering.

Edwina Hayes was the wonderful singer who opened Roger's UK shows.

Roadie Report 47 - A Dream Comes True by Camilla McGuinn

2009-07-03T08:59:00.026-05:00

Photo shot from our balcony on the Crystal Serenity

When God drops a dream in your heart and it comes to fruition, mere words sometimes can’t describe the experience. But it is this attempt at writing these words that will enable us to someday look back and smile at the sweet memories.

Our walk was rapid to catch the train to Edinburgh. The lounge had free Wi-Fi and I found myself totally involved in business emails without keeping an eye on the clock. There weren’t many people in the First Class Coach because the cost of the train ticket is expensive unless you have a BritRail Pass. The pass is used to promote tourism in the United Kingdom, so the price is very reasonable when bought in the United States before landing in England. It is wise to pay the extra for First Class because the Coach compartments are usually filled with commuters going to work who probably would appreciate not being inconvenienced by tourist and their luggage. Check the BritRail website for the prices.

I listened to Roger’s voice while he did a telephone interview before we left the hotel in Birmingham. He told the interviewer that we have been touring the UK for years with a BritRail pass. Those years of experience have fine tuned our choices of trains and hotels. This tour was quickly becoming one of our favorites. The dream didn’t begin on this train; it began last year when we entertained a dream of touring across the ocean without using wings.

The rental car from Orlando to Miami was comfortable, but not as comfortable as our van. Our understanding was enlightened as to why people are often amazed when we tell them enjoy driving. Riding in a regular car for hours is a confined way to travel.

The streets of South Beach were filled with people attending a “Rap” convention. The traffic inched its way to our hotel. One night there, then Crystal Cruise Line sent a car to drive us to the Crystal Serenity.

Embarkation for us was around 3pm. A previous experience on a different cruise line made us dread the “move the cattle attitude.” Boarding the Crystal Serenity was like boarding a private yacht. There were no lines and the staff made us feel like royalty.
The butler for our stateroom, Engin from Turkey, finished the royal treatment for the next ten days.

The Serenity inched away from the dock in the late evening. On the top deck, a few couples gathered to watch the Miami lights fade in the moonlight. The voice of Louis Armstrong filled the air singing, “Its A Wonderful World,” a Crystal Cruise line custom when one of their ocean liners departs a shore. Roger smiled, put his arm around me, took my hand and we slow danced our way into our dream adventure.

The crossing from Miami to Lisbon was going to take ten days. I wondered how we were going to spend the time. It didn’t take long to realize that the activities arranged by the Crystal staff could fill every moment of every day.

Since Portugal was our destination, I signed up for a Portuguese class. It was in that class that I met people who were to become our first friends on board.

Roger spent the first couple of days on the balcony of our cabin fishing the satellites for the Leo Leporte show, “The Tech Guy,” on XM Radio CH 158. He was thrilled that he managed to receive the show a little beyond Bermuda. After we were out of the connection line with the magic stars, Roger recorded two songs for the Folk Den on the Pro Tools equipment that he insisted on bringing. The cabin was as quiet as a recording studio.

Bermuda was the only stop before Lisbon. On my 40th birthday we had used our frequent flyer points to explore the island, so we decided to stay on board while everyone else went ashore. While sitting aft of the deserted ship, with a bottle of champagne, a lone couple walked by. We laughingly asked if they were enjoying our private yacht. Linda and Manuel quickly engaged us in a vivacious conversation. They had been to Lisbon before and when we told them that Roger is a musician, they insisted we join then for an excursion to a Fado club in Lisbon to hear the beauty of Portuguese folk music.

The theme of the cruise was “The Big Band.” One of our favorite movies is “The Glenn Miller Story” starring Jimmy Stewart. The band hired for this cruise was “The Glenn Miller Orchestra.” It was exciting to hear a big band play the songs of the sound track to our much loved movie. Every evening we would go to the Sunset Lounge, watch the sunset and listen to the music.

A few years ago, Roger and I made a deal with each other. I didn’t have to ride a bicycle anymore and he didn’t have to dance. He had already graciously forgotten the deal on our first night at sea. When the distinct sounds of Glenn Miller flowed from our new friends who played in the orchestra, we dressed in our finest attire and waltzed across the Atlantic Ocean.

It was easy for Roger to give two lectures because he has been lecturing in Colleges and High Schools. It was an intimate crossing, as re-positioning cruises often are, so the audience was filled with appreciative new found friends.

The San Francisco of Portugal.

Disembarking from the Crystal Serenity was as easy as embarking. Engin walked us to the waiting car. It was a sad farewell, but Rick, the cruise director, insisted we would be back. I’m pouring over the Crystal website and dreaming of the next time.

Our hotel room wasn’t ready when we arrived because it was before noon. The free Wi-Fi in the lobby became our first contact point with our email in 10 days. Roger looked up after a few minutes and began laughing, “I feel like I have jet-lag. It is a sense-memory of always arriving on foreign soil after a long airplane ride and wanting to go to bed.”

Photo by Camilla

The room was soon ready, but we didn’t go to bed. The blooming Jacaranda lined streets of Lisbon opened up to us our first adventure in Portugal as we walked the cobbled sidewalks. In the evening, Linda and Manuel arrived at our hotel to take us to the Fado Club. After a glass of champagne, we hailed a taxi for the old part of town.

Manuel made reservations at a club that presented the renowned guitar player,Mario Pacheco. Our table was right in front of the performers. The first of the many food courses was finished when the lights went red and all the noise and eating stopped. Out walked 4 performers, 3 male instrumentalists and one female singer. Mario played a 12-string guitar, but it wasn’t like Roger’s. It was a Portuguese 12-string with six sets of two strings resembling a large mandolin. There was no amplification of the instruments, nor of the singer’s voices. The room filled with the soulful sounds of a nation’s heritage. The words were foreign to us but we were moved by the intense emotion.

Our stay in the beautiful city of Lisbon was too short, but Roger had a concert to perform in Madrid. The evening after the amazing Club Fado experience, we boarded an overnight train to the capital of Spain. A late night dinner was served on board then we settled in our compartment for a night of dreaming on the rails.

We had worked with the promoter in Spain in 2004 for the Azkena Rock Festival in Vitoria-Gasteiz, so we knew we were in kind, capable hands.

The Hotel Ac Aitana became our home for two nights. It is located in the business district, away from the tourist area. The tapas bar across the street is the munching place for all the locals and it became ours too. We did experience the historical part of town, because the venue was situated right in the middle of it. The warmth of the Spanish audience stayed with us on our beautiful train ride north to Paris. The Spanish countryside looks like Southern California. No wonder the Spanish settled there.

Photo of the rain on the Spanish Plains taken from the train.

It was Sunday morning when our train pulled into the Austerlitz Station in Paris. We joined the taxi line and it soon became apparent that taxis did not make a habit of stopping at this station on Sundays. Thirty minutes later, I decided to walk around the block to see if there was a better vantage point. As soon as I turned the corner, I saw a taxi. My dilemma was how to convey to the driver with my limited French vocabulary that I needed him to take me back to the station, pick up my husband and luggage and then take us to Garde Norde, our next train station for the trip to London.

I peered into the passenger’s side window and with the most pathetic hopeful smile I could muster, pointed back to the train station and said, “Baggage” in my best French. It worked! He smiled and nodded. I jumped in the back of the taxi. The driver made a wild u-turn as I used my walkie-talkie to convey to Roger that I would soon be arriving triumphantly with transportation to our next destination.

The Eurostar is one of our favorite trains. Someday I will write a whole chapter about the adventures we have had on this underground pathway between London and Paris. Sitting in the lounge waiting to board was like being at home.

It is now a day off and we’re sitting on a train bound to London from Newcastle. Cambridge is our goal, but we enjoy the train so much, that we decided to take it to London and change at the King’s Cross Station instead of Peterborough. The romance of the train lends itself to writing. Castles on the hillsides, shorn sheep in the meadows and backyard gardens with babies in the swings add up to combine hundreds of years of history with the ever present daily life of this island nation.

Early this morning, Roger and I read the beautiful love letter in the Song of Solomon. There is a phrase in it of the man describing the beauty of the woman he loves. He compares her teeth to “shorn sheep.” I never really understood the comparison until today when I looked out the window of the train and saw a row of shorn sheep. Yes they did look like a row of teeth, with none missing.
Love, history and adventure…all from the window of a train. The Monet view from the English train.

More to come…..

Roadie Report 46 - Lectures and Pete Seeger's Garden Party -A Glimpse Backstage- by Camilla McGuinn

2009-05-05T19:20:00.019-05:00

Usually upon arrival at the “Sheraton On the Hudson” in Weehawken, NJ, we park in the lot and unload our van from there, but this time it was raining. We drove under the awning of the hotel entrance. While the bellman was maneuvering our equipment, a gentleman excitedly approached Roger with that tentative question we often hear, “Roger McGuinn?”
“Yes.”
“We came here from Canada for the show at Madison Square Garden.” Then he spotted me and excitedly commented, “You’re Camilla! We’re here at this hotel because we read about it in your BLOG.”

It was the first time someone seemed more excited to see me than to see Roger. I was flattered and thrilled to meet one of the three people I imagine who read the BLOG. On this tour, I found out there are a few more than three readers, because I have been reminded several different times that I haven’t written lately. Those reminders were encouragements to dust off the keyboard and type. It is a good thing too, because I don’t want to forget the wonderful events we have recently experienced.

Two years ago, Roger decided that he wanted to connect more with schools since it was a visit by Bob Gibson to his high school that set him on the road to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I called Andrea at Skyline and asked her to begin mentioning to colleges that Roger would also be available for give a lecture the day before a concert. Monmouth University was the first college to invite Roger to lecture.

The Folk Alliance invited Roger to give the key note address for their February convention in Memphis. This folk singer was becoming a speaker.
On March 19, 2009 Roger gave his first lecture to a high school class. It was in Rockford, Illinois. We walked out of the classroom with smiles on our faces. The music students appeared interested in the stories Roger shared with them. During the Q & A, a student asked Roger, “What was the most important decision you ever made in the record business?”
“Getting out of it.” Roger quickly replied.
He went on to tell them that with the internet and modern technology, he has been able to develop his own recording business and he’s having a lot of fun doing it. He told them that if you love what you are doing, you don’t have to work a day in your life.

Another lecture was schedule at Monmouth University for May 2. This time I asked the staff to invite people to bring their guitars.

After Roger explained how folk music took him to the Hall of Fame, he asked the students to open their guitar cases because they were all going to play a few songs together. There was a cacophony of strings until Roger led them through the tuning process. After all the guitars were blending, Roger sat down and said, “We’re going to play Mr. Tambourine Man. One, two, three, four. One, two, three…’Hey Mr. Tambourine Man…’”

My mouth dropped open when I heard almost 50 guitars and singers join together in harmony from the first note. They finished and then flowed into “Turn, Turn, Turn.” After another round of questions, Roger finished the afternoon with everyone singing and playing “Mr. Spaceman.”

He was smiling broadly when he declared to the group,”You’re now officially all Byrds!"

The first weekend in May was jammed packed with exciting events, but I was beginning to think that those moments at Monmouth couldn’t be topped.

Sunday was Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday party at Madison Square Garden. What a party it was! The Garden was sold out and the cast of performers covered decades of talented musicians. Everyone donated their time and talents to celebrate the life of a man who always chose the paths of love and justice. All of the proceeds from the concert were for the “Clearwater.” The project Pete began in the 60’s to clean up the Hudson River.

For Roger, this evening was an ultimate class re-union. The names on the door for his shared dressing room were Arlo Guthrie, Tim Robbins, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Kris Kristofferson and Roger McGuinn.
Throughout the evening, there were joyous smiles and handshakes with friends from Greenwich Village to California, many of whom Roger had not seen in over 20 years.

Ben and Trevor from Band of Horses, along with the Saturday Night Live band, joined Roger on the song, “Turn, Turn, Turn.” There wasn’t enough time to sing his other Pete Seeger favorite, “Bells of Rhymney,” but he didn’t mind. He told the Bob Ezrin, the director, he would be happy just to sweep the stage.

We woke up Monday morning still excited about the incredible weekend we had just experienced. The lecture on Friday, was followed on Saturday night with a co-billed concert of friends, John Sebastian and Roger McGuinn. Then it was time for Pete’s Party on Sunday. Each moment would have marked a weekend as very special on its own, but to have those three events happening in one weekend was one for the memory banks.

By noon we had answered a ton of email. Then it was time to ride the ferry across the Hudson to meet Patrick and Wilson at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station. Lunch in that beautiful train station and then a stroll through the market place to buy chocolate has become a tradition for every visit to the City.

After lunch, we went to 47th street to find “Masters of Time.” A watch maker who has gained great acclaim for the tender care he gives to fixing broken watches. His wife Rita tends the small desk in the Exchange. I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave Roger’s birthday gift from my mother with strangers, but when we met Rita, I knew that the watch was in good hands. Her sincerity and love of her husband’s craft bonded us to her almost immediately. She and her husband are a “mom and pop” business. We identified with their business model.

Tuesday morning Rita called and said the watch was fixed. She wanted Roger to have it before we left for Europe at the end of May, so her husband made a special effort to fix it quickly.

I’m sitting on the bed, looking out the window at the gray clouds hiding the top of the Empire State Building. I have spent the last three months buried under a mountain of paper work. July’s logistics still need to be organized for our upcoming two month tour of Europe, but this moment of reflection has been good for my soul. It is true; you never have to work a day in your life, if you love what you do.

Roadie Report 45 - Eight Miles High - by Camilla McGuinn

2009-02-14T16:17:00.010-05:00

Photo by Camilla

The BBC invited Roger to perform for their series called “Folk
America” being filmed at the Barbican Theatre in London, on
January 22, 2009. Nick Peel, Roger’s International agent, ironed
out all the details. Martin Guitar arranged for a Roger McGuinn HD-7, 7-string guitar. The promoter arranged for a pretty red 360 model 12-string Rickenbacker guitar and I booked the tickets.

Promoters usually balk when I tell them Roger's travel requirements, but then I find a deal they can’t refuse. I found one with Virgin Atlantic. On January 19, a Virgin Atlantic chauffeur arrived at our home to drive us to Miami. There is a direct flight from Orlando to London, but we call that the “kiddies’ flight.” A Virgin flight soaring to the "land of the mouse” is usually packed with excited little mouths, loudly proclaiming their presence.

Roger tells friends, "Camilla likes to be at the airport an hour before the airplane leaves the city it is coming from." I really don’t like running to catch a plane especially this time, since I was still in a "boot" with a broken foot. The car arrived at Miami International four hours before our evening departure to London. We happily passed the time enjoying a late lunch at the airport hotel.

The plane was only delayed half an hour before boarding. By 10pm, satisfied passengers were fed and dreaming in their Virgin Air pods.

When an airplane lands early in the morning, your hotel room is not likely to be ready. A wonderful perk of Virgin Atlantic, is the arrivals lounge. We had a leisurely breakfast before a driver navigated the streets of London to our hotel. On the way, traffic was stopped at Buckingham Palace for a small parade of the guards. We were the first car behind the march, so it felt like we were in the parade.

It was a day for parades. There was a big one happening in Washington D.C. Barack Obama was making history in America. This was one inauguration we didn’t want to miss viewing.
Years ago when we traveled in Europe, we always carried a short-wave radio to hear English news. Now with satellites broadcasting over many channels, television coverage of the inauguration was on every channel. We chose to watch the BBC coverage, because after all, we were in London. Jet lag hit before the inauguration parade, so we missed the Dave Barry moment of him being embedded.

Photo by Camilla

London is a great walking town, but with a “foot boot” on my right foot, we were relegated to the London taxis. Getting into one of those big black spacious cabs always makes me feel like I’m in a movie.

The BBC show featured four artists who walked the streets of Greenwich Village in the early 1960’s. Billy Brag was the master of ceremonies and Judy Collins closed the show. In between, Roger, Carolyn Hester and Eric Andersen echoed the sounds of the Village. Roger did add his acoustic version of “Eight Miles High.” He didn’t write it in the village with Gene and David,but it is a song about a trip to England.

1965
Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark and David Crosby were sitting in a mid-west hotel room strumming guitars while experimenting with an illicit drug of the time. Think of an automotive product.

Gene began playing a tune he had been exploring. He invited Jim and David to join him in writing the lyrics. After bantering a few ideas between them, Jim suggested, "Let’s write it about our trip to England."

The Byrds had just returned from their first concert tour of England. The promoter touted the tour to the press as "America's Answer to the Beatles." That one sentence cocked the guns of the British press. The group was the victim of target practice before the airplane even touched down.

Riding in limousines on the streets of London was exhilarating, overwhelming and wet. Culture shock bombarded the novice travelers immediately. The eccentricity of the press, the hectic pace of the schedule, along with a flu bug for Jim and Michael Clark, made the days and evenings seem like they were spinning out of control.

Derek Taylor, the Byrds newly hired publicist, had also worked with the Beatles. He arranged the first meeting with the Byrds and Beatles. The Rolling Stones came to their shows. Even though the press was slamming everything the Byrds did, the camaraderie of this small world of musicians was not affected by the petty rivalry being instigated by burning typewriter keys.

Back in the mid-west hotel room, Gene liked the idea of writing the song about the trip. His first question was how high the airplane was flying. Jim's love of aviation had the answer tucked in the recesses of his mind. "Let's do the math. around 33,000 ft divided by 5280 is around ... 6 miles high."

Gene pondered a moment. "No. I like the sound of 8 better than 6 because the Beatles wrote ‘8 days a week’."

Eight Miles High took flight.

Roger doesn't usually tell people about how images evolve into song lyrics, but this song was censored by radio because one person decided he 'knew' the theme of the song. The Gavin Report declared it was a song about drugs and encouraged it to be banned from airplay. It was banned by radio stations across the continent. Censorship was alive and flourishing in America. Even the Columbia Records mighty machine couldn’t stop that false accusation. The song was written while drugs were being experienced, but the lyrics were inspired by an historical trip to England. Here is Roger's explanation of the song words located in parenthesis below the lyric:

Eight miles high and when you touch down
You’ll find that it’s stranger than known
(The cultural shock they experienced)
Signs in the street that say where you’re going
Are somewhere just being their own
(The street names in London are posted high on the sides of the corner buildings, not on a post.)

Nowhere is there warmth to be found
Among those afraid of losing their ground
(The British press didn't like the promoters touting the Byrds as America's answer to the Beatles)
Rain gray town known for its sound
(Foggy, rainy London. The town Americans associated with the sound of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones)
In places small faces unbound
(The screaming little girl fans everywhere the group stepped)

Round the squares huddled in storms
(The groups of fans waiting for them in the rain)
Some laughing some just shapeless forms
Sidewalk scenes and black limousines
(Getting out of the limos and being pressed by the crowds on the sidewalks)
Some living some standing alone
(The kids excited by the mayhem of the scene while the policemen stood by watching)

Now back to the future:
2009

We had one day off before our flight home. After an interview with Mandy Moore from BBC radio and a business meeting with Nick to discuss the summer tour in the UK and Europe, we set our course for a late lunch at a London landmark.

The food court at Harrods has high quality kitchens surrounded by seated bars. We have always been drawn to the seafood grill. As we walked toward our favorite corner, two seats opened up at the new Caviar bar. With one quick look at each other, we jumped on those empty stools. Watching the creative cooks, the United Nations of people strolling by and tasting the food in the bustling food court creates a memory easily refreshed by all the senses.

Photo by Camilla

Within a week’s time, we flew to London; joined a parade; watched an American historical inauguration on BBC television; filmed a show for BBC television; enjoyed an evening with old friends and watched the clouds float around the Tower of Big Ben.

Old memories and new memories; London is one of our favorite cities. We're looking forward to going back in June!

Photos by Camilla

Roadie Report 44 - From The Desert to The Sea and the Fall in Between- by Camilla McGuinn

2009-01-05T13:44:00.019-05:00

THE DESERT Photos by Camilla McGuinn

A few days ago I finally opened my computer with the conviction to give an explanation for the absence of a Blog for the past few months. Writing the little note was enough to get me back to the keyboard.

The Fall of 2008 was a wonderful time of touring for us. We traveled to the northeast during the peak of the Fall season. It was during one of the tours that I broke my foot.

The story begins in May at the gathering of the Astronaut's Hall of Fame. Astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman’s wife, Barbara, described the exciting experience they'd had on the Queen Elizabeth II ocean liner. Jeff had been invited to give a lecture and she joined him for the romantic trip. When I heard the stories, bells went off in my head.

Roger and I had been talking about doing a European tour the old fashion way. The bygone days of traveling to and from Europe only on ocean liners seemed like pages out of a romantic novel. To accomplish the dream, without breaking the bank, we were going to need a little creative planning. When Barbara told me about their trip, I immediately asked for the name of the agent who booked the lecture.

Within the month, I was emailing Tim in New York City with the best pitch line I could muster of why a cruise liner would want to book Roger McGuinn to give a lecture. Roger has been lecturing for several years at various colleges on the day before a concert. Sharing stories about his experience in the music world sounded more relaxing than giving a concert on the cruise ship because cruise lines require two concerts a night. Roger decided years ago that performing two shows on the same night was not fair to the audience. It is not wise to use 100% of his energy for one concert when another is schedule a few hours later.

Tim thought our idea might work. I had already researched the schedules of all the cruise lines which had Atlantic Ocean crossings and gave him the dates that I thought would work for us. A few weeks later, Tim called. The Crystal Serenity was leaving Miami on May 23, sailing for Portugal. Roger was invited to give two unique lectures, on two different afternoons during the 10 day cruise.

A few minutes later, I was on the telephone talking to Nick Peel, Roger's international agent, asking him to book concerts in Europe and the United Kingdom for June and July of 2009. The first part of our romantic novel was becoming a reality. All we have to do now is find a way back from Europe.

The news of the Crystal Cruise sent me soaring. We wanted to meet Tim. He lived in New York City which was perfect because Roger had a concert scheduled at the Abrons Art Center in the City on Sept. 26th.

We arrived at the Weehawken, NJ, Sheraton-On-the-Hudson on Wednesday. A luncheon meeting was arranged with Tim. In order not to be late, we planned to take the Ferry to the city about an hour before our appointment.

We galloped down ten flights of stairs - any excuse for exercise on the road. When we stepped out of the hotel, the Ferry was docking. I began to run for it. Roger called, "Camilla, don't run!" I tripped on the curb and went sprawling on the road. Roger was horrified. I quickly jumped up hoping to get the look of horror off his face. I assured him I wasn’t injured, gathered my scattered belongings and limped to the entrance of the Ferry boat. As I sat down, I felt a sharp twinge coming from my right foot. The Ferry terminal on the New York side of the Hudson River has a concession stand and I was hopeful I could get some ice there to soothe my foot’s pain as soon as the 10 minute ride was over.

The kind man selling coffee and sweets was very sympathetic while he filled a plastic bag full of ice, he wouldn't even take a tip. Since we were early, we stayed 15 minutes in the terminal with my iced foot propped up on the plastic chairs. While I was making faces at my foot, Roger pointed at a Ferry boat docking and quietly commented, "Camilla, see that Ferry. It's the one we would have been on, if we had missed the one you were running to catch." My head was shaking from left to right as I sheepishly promised to slow down and not move so fast.

My foot still ached as we boarded the Ferry Bus to our midtown destination. I prayed for heavy traffic because I needed to keep the ice on my foot a bit longer. My prayer was answered. The United Nations was in session and New York City traffic comes to a halt when the world's leaders converge to disagree.

Tim arrived at the Japanese restaurant minutes after we did. During our telephone conversations, I imagined him looking like the actor Hugh Grant because his accent suggested English origins, but I’m seldom right in visualizing people correctly just by the tone of their voice. I decided Tim was probably short and portly. Roger assured me he wasn't. If we were a betting couple, I would have lost. The refined English accent belonged to a tall good-looking man.

Our reservation was for a table on the second floor. While carrying a bag of ice, limping up the stairs, I began explaining why I was leaving water dripping behind me like Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumbs. Sitting down, I quickly ordered a beer because I had taken an aspirin for the foot swelling and my stomach doesn't like aspirin. Tim aristocratically replied, "Ah yes, beer and aspirin." I wasn't sure we were making a good impression.

I bit my bottom lip, slowly took a breath and thought about all the gracious charm my dear southern parents had tried to instill in me. I wanted Tim to be confident we were worthy to handle the Crystal ambassadorship. Our conversation followed the normal paths of common ground and then we ordered lunch.

Tim told us he didn't really like hot wasabi. His comment opened the door for me to tell him how much we love spicy food. In fact, our love of spice is so well known to our friends, that Mary Ann had recently given us each a small stainless steel vial filled with dried chipotle peppers. We attached the vials to our key chains and used the peppers at every meal. The packaging was clever enough to deserve a show and tell moment. I unzipped the side pocket of my travel bag with a quick hand and reached for my keys. In the midst of my falling, the vial had opened. All of a sudden, the pepper powder exploded into the atmosphere, right into my nose and eyes. The sneezes wouldn't stop while my eyes watered profusely. The noise in the whole restaurant ceased as every eye turned in my direction. I looked at Tim and imagined he was thinking,“ I have booked this woman to accompany her husband on one of the most exclusive cruise lines in world!" Time seemed to stop while I pictured myself in a scene from the "I Love Lucy" television show, except I didn't have red hair. I was now sure we were not making a good impression. Fortunately, Tim exhibited a good sense of humor.

By the time we arrived back at the hotel, I felt a need to prop my foot up with some more ice. Roger had a video interview for an American Masters’ special about Joan Baez the next morning. A quiet evening in the hotel with a few snacks from room service sounded like a perfect prescription for my aching foot. The view of the Empire State Building twinkling in the moonlight from the pillows on the bed, made me feel like we had the best table in town.
Photo by Camilla McGuinn

Around 3:am, I awoke with a sharp pain emanating from the top of my foot. I painfully realized my foot was broken. I knew it wouldn’t do any good to wake Roger at that early hour. During our recent experience with previous broken bones we learned that waiting a few hours would not make a big difference in the healing time. I crawled to the other room of the suite and quietly waited for sunrise, while vowing in the future to walk, not run.

In the morning, Roger went to the interview while I telephoned doctors. Michael, the concierge of the hotel, sent up a wheel chair and arranged for transportation to the doctor’s office. The doctor was a young man who made the immature mistake of saying, "... a woman your age." I still smack the air when I repeat those words spoken by that young whippersnapper. When did doctors become so young?

The concert at the Abrons Art Center was wonderful. Roger hadn't performed in the Village, since the Bottom Line closed. Friends had heard of my fall and were volunteering to be the roadie, but I managed on crutches. The next concert at The Egg in Albany, I was in a transport chair. The crutches aggravated a hand problem. I spent the rest of the Fall, being pushed around.

On our way to Albany, we stopped in Coxsackie, NY to say hi to the folks at Sundazed Records, to record "The Return of the Chestnut Mare" at the Easter Island studio and to pick up the transport chair I had ordered.(Photo by Camilla) I sat in the control room of the studio listening to Roger add tracks to the sounds we had previously recorded with Marty Stuart in Nashville. When the inevitable "down time" happened, I snapped pictures of instruments placed in a corner with just the natural light of the studio. Those photos still intrigue me.

The Fall touring continued because unless Roger is physically unable, the show must go on. We were enthralled with the beautiful scenery everywhere we went. Arkansas was our biggest surprise. Its rolling hills were covered with the vibrant Fall colors. We had experienced the magnificent colors of New England, the mountains of Virginia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, and now we knew of the quiet beauty of Arkansas in the Fall.

There was enough time before the Golden, Colorado concert, to stop at the Summit Road Studios in Parker and record a few Christmas songs for "The Chestnut Christmas" CD we are working on.

Golden is a charming town and the drive from there to Ogden, Utah was majestic with only a few snow flurries. Roger did most of the driving, since my right foot was in a corrective "boot."

From Ogden, we drove to Fort Worth, Texas for two concerts. The music store, next to our hotel was decorated for Christmas. It was the perfect time to buy presents for Roger’s family. Roger saw a mandolin he wouldn't put down. That instrument became his Christmas present and he hasn't put it down since.

We drove from the desert to the sea for a concert in Malibu, California at Pepperdine University.

Roger’s shows are filled with stories about the songs he sings and the history he has lived. His encore includes stories too. This is the short story he ended his concert with that night. It is about looking for songs for his "Thunderbyrd" album which was released in 1977 and the friendship that began because of that search.

“‘My manager played me a song that caught my attention. I laughingly asked, 'When did I record that?'
He said, 'It's not you.'
'I know. But who is it?'
'It's this new kid called Tom Petty.' "

The moment Roger said Tom's name, Tom sauntered on stage to join Roger for the performance of "American Girl" and "King of The Hill." Silence hung in the air for a second, the audience was spell bound. When they realized it really was Tom Petty, a loud roar of excitement erupted from the audience.

We could barely get to sleep that night, but we had one more show in San Diego before we put the pedal to metal for the 2442 mile drive home.

John Sebastian and Roger we're co-billing at the Poway Center and as usual, John joined Roger playing some beautiful blues harmonica on some classic songs, including "Knocking On Heaven's Door."

The last date of 2008 was in Stuart, Fl at the lovely Lyric Theater. Carl Hiaasen, the author of "Sick Puppy" and the instigator for Roger joining the "Rock Bottom Remainders" celebrated the last show of the year with us. In Carl’s book, there is an actual “sick puppy” who is re-named “McGuinn” after Roger McGuinn, a great 12-string player, according to Carl. Roger’s album, “Back From Rio” is played on a car tape deck during one scene in the story. Ironically, it was also the album on which Tom Petty had joined Roger as a guest artist.

It would be easy to end this BLOG with all those year-end platitudes, but we're not into endings...besides we have to get ready for a trip to London on January 19th for a concert with some friends that is going to be taped for the BBC.

THE SEA Photos by Camilla McGuinn

Roadie Report 43- The Fall of 2008 by Camilla McGuinn

2009-01-05T13:28:00.004-05:00

Photo by Camilla McGuinn

"Roger, I've been thinking."

"Oh no, not again. That usually means trouble"

"Well ever since I broke my foot, I haven't been able to write the BLOG and I feel a little guilty. I think I owe the folks an explanation for my silence. Though I could probably just email all three of them."

"Don't feel guilty. Just write a short note to tell people you broke your foot and you can't write."

"I'm not sure a broken foot is going to translate to why I haven't been able to write the BLOG. Sure, I've been told that I write with my foot, but that is when I'm using a pen not a keyboard."

"Well what are you going to do?"

"Ah...I think I will write a short note to tell the folks that I broke my foot and can't write."

"Say goodnight Gracie."

Roadie Report 42 - A Walk to Battery Park by Camilla McGuinn

2008-10-04T12:25:00.009-05:00

I looked up at the blue sky over the closed off construction site. Images of the twin towers flashed from my memory and the words from the Christmas song we had just completed recording rang through my mind:

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play.
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of Peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how as the day had come
The belfries of all Christendom
Had roll'd along th' unbroken song
Of Peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair, I bow'd my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song,
Of Peace on earth, good will to men."

This was the first time we had been to ground zero. Peace on earth has always been elusive. Wars have always been but on that day, September 11, 2001, we felt the meaning of the words, “For hate is strong and mocks the song, of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Our walk toward Battery Park around the site was silent. I have always found it hard to understand why the sun still shines when my heart is heavy. Then I remembered the rest of the words to the song:

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearthstones of a continent,
And made forlorn, the households born
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep;
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With Peace on earth, good will to men."

Roadie Report 41 - Concerts and Hurricanes by Camilla McGuinn

2008-09-06T12:48:00.016-05:00

On Aug 4th we made a fun jaunt to Michigan and Ohio. John Sebastian and Roger were co-billing for two concerts. It's always a delight to hear John playing his wonderful Blues harmonica with Roger for a few songs. We have future shows scheduled with John - click the icon for ‘Tour Dates” on mcguinn.com for updates. An evening with these two storyteller musicians leaves a smile on everyone’s face.

Hurricane Fay began creeping northward from Naples, FL on August 18. The very day we had scheduled to initiate on our new PV solar panels to power most of our house’s electrical needs with the sun’s energy. The rain began ... it didn’t stop for five long days, but the panels worked! Even on rainy cloudy days, our system charged the storage batteries. Our two refrigerators were never in the slightest jeopardy of losing power. Almost everything in the house is now solar powered.

On August 30th, we conducted another experiment with the system. We totally disconnected our house from Progress Energy "grid." The air conditioners, the clothes dryer and the electric range and oven ceased working. We'd planned to see if a portable air conditioner could keep us comfortable throughout the night but guess what ... it rained all day. Hurricane Gustave’s outer bands showered our house. I did manage to wash four loads of laundry on solar power and hung the clothes up to dry on racks, but we didn’t want to take the chance of testing the portable air conditioner. The lights, fans and computers worked all evening. When the sun rose the next day, the batteries totally recharged. A new day dawned and a fresh source of power was available. It was so exciting!

In 1959 I experienced my first hurricane. We were living in Beaufort, South Carolina. My father was a Navy hospital corpsman assigned to the Marine Air Corps Air Station. He had to be on call at the medical dispensary during the storm. His wife kept the home lights burning alone with their two children, a 9 year old son and a 7 year old daughter.

My mother was the type of person who saw the adventure in everything. We never had time to entertain fear; we were having too much fun camping in the hall and playing games. Every so often, mummy would go peek out a small window to view the biggest oak tree in the Whole-Wide-World. Hurricane Gracie’s winds were blowing over 100 miles an hour. She had her eye destined for that big beautiful tree.

7 years old - my birthday in the Living Room before the big hurricane.

My brother and I were almost asleep, when mom gently shook us and whispered, “It's time to go next door.” She calmly handed us our clothes bags and told us to stand with her near the door. All of a sudden the wind stopped, she flung the door open, then firmly said, “Run to Pat’s house!” Wil and I looked at each with a quizzical look because it seemed the storm was over. Mom grabbed my hand and hollered, “It’s just the eye. It’s dangerous! Run fast!”

Pat saw us running and held her door open for us. Her four children were as excited as Wil and I; we now had playmates for the duration of the storm.

Mom and Pat played canasta while they watched that enormous, beautiful tree crash into our living room. The house was inundated with water.

The days following were the kind of days kids dream about. School had just commenced a new year but because the electrical lines were down, we had a two-week holiday. The neighborhood became a block party with community grills fired up every evening. The charcoal-fired pits were overflowing with a lot of good eating before all the food in the freezers defrosted.

That childhood event ignited in me a deep fascination with hurricanes. We experienced our first Florida hurricane during Labor Day weekend 1985. Hurricane Elena parked in the Gulf of Mexico for three days battering our coastline. Living in Florida provides many close encounters with the vast destruction caused by these cyclonic storms. I now balance my childhood excitement with an adult reality of potential disaster.
Photo by Roger - Click to enlarge

Solar panels have changed some of the rules for hurricane preparation. We still fill our gasoline tanks and water bottles, but I no longer have to buy enough ice to last for seven days. I mentioned to a neighbor how I felt a little guilty when I saw her lifting ice out of her trunk. She laughingly assured me we would have lots of company the next time a hurricane robs the community of power. Just like when I was 7 years old, we’ll have lots of playmates!

We are being asked if the solar panels will save us money. At this time the return on our investment will take a while, but we are convinced it is the right thing to do. This planet is a beautiful place to live. It's a good idea to become better stewards of its resources. Little things will add up. Roz Savage recently rowed from San Francisco to Hawaii in a small boat, one oar at a time. She's on her way to Australia. Roz set out to raise awareness of the pollution mankind is causing. I never knew about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch before following her adventure. Now when I go to the grocery store, if I have forgotten my “green bags”, I buy one. Declining the plastic bags offered in the stores is a small step toward caring for the future.

There are other areas in our life where we try to move in a “greener” direction, but there are areas where we haven’t yet. It isn’t a matter of comparing ourselves to what others are doing; it's a matter of trying to do what we think is right when it is in our pathway to do it.

Photos- one by Roger, one by Camilla, one from Roz's site and one taken by mummy.

Roadie Report 40- The "Green Summer" of 2008 by Camilla McGuinn

2008-07-31T12:55:00.015-05:00

Photo by Camilla

We’ll always remember the summer of 2008 as the “green summer.” The environment has always been one of our concerns. “The Trees Are All Gone,” written in 1990, was somewhat prophetic about the apathy of the politicians and the blinders they wear concerning the energy needs of our nation, but this blog isn’t about politics.

For the first time in years, we found ourselves settled into our home for the summer. Usually, we purposely arrange to be touring somewhere in the world, in order to miss the seasonal heat of Florida, but this year was different.

Taking time off from touring gives us time to open our imaginations and horizons to things we are normally too busy to contemplate.

“Tech TV” was one of the few cable television channels Roger watched faithfully. It was a highlight for him when he was invited to appear on the Screen Savers broadcast. The only sad part of that day was the host,Leo Laporte, was out of town. The network was bought by one of those monster corporations that destroy good stuff. Sure enough “Tech TV” was sunk, but you can’t keep talented people drowning for long. Kevin Rose and Leo LaPorte branched out. They found new outlets for their talents via podcasts on the Internet. It was on Leo’s show that Roger heard about Roz Savage.

Roz Savage has embarked on the adventure of being the first woman to row solo across the Pacific. Her motivation is to raise awareness of environmental issues. She wants to inspire others to make a difference in their lives for the protection of the earth and its oceans.
Photo by Camilla

Roz has an amazing web page and Roger was fascinated; he immediately studied his habits and made some changes.

We live in a land of sunshine. It is time to harness this powerful gift. Roger has been experimenting with small solar panels for the past year. In the beginning he was using them to recharge our laptop computers and cell phones. He wanted more practical uses, so we brainstormed about what we needed most when the electricity was shut down. In 2004, we experienced three hot days and three dark nights when Hurricane Charlie knocked out the power grid.

During those days and nights, the comforts we missed most were ice and cooled air for sleeping. We couldn’t run our air conditioner or refrigerator with our small panels, but we could power some fans and make ice. Thus we invented “solar ice.”

Portable ice machines were being featured in various catalogues. I asked Roger if the solar panels were powerful enough to run the machines. The wheels began turning. We placed an order on the Internet and within weeks, we were making ice from the power of the sun.

My resident “Mr. Wizard” or “Commander Solar” as he jokingly likes to call himself wasn’t content with just ice and fans. He wanted more solar power. The next brainstorm session came up with the question, “Is there a good electric mobile device that we could use for our local errands?”

The Internet search machine was buzzing. We found a reasonably priced electrical device and placed an order. It arrived by truck and was deposited in a crate on our driveway. Some assembly required. You know what transpires when a husband and wife try to assemble anything as a joint project!

Being a typical guy, Roger proceeded to put it together, while I tried to read the directions which were very roughly translated from a foreign language that seemed to read from right to left and from the end to the beginning. I would manage to decipher an important point just after Roger attached that particular part in the wrong position. Give him a guitar or a computer and he can take it apart with his eyes close. This new world of transportation mechanics was bewildering to him. We groused with each other throughout the whole ordeal, but suddenly we achieved that sweet moment of accomplishment and we had a new set of wheels. The bright red bike that was going to lower our carbon foot print was christened “FRED” – Free Rolling Electrical Deliverer.”

Within a week of getting the “FRED” on the road, a couple of local reporters emailed with the question, “How is Roger spending his summer vacation?” They had reported on our “Solar Ice” experiment and knew Roger usually had some tech related project brewing. I invited them over to meet the “FRED.” They filmed Roger riding the "FRED" for their website. (Be sure to click the blue letters for the film...I only say this for those folks, like me, who don’t know why that word was blue)

Our Orange Tree (photo by Camilla)
Now that “FRED’s” wheels were rolling, Roger wanted to use our beautifully situated roof – southwestern exposure – to raise the solar panels. Dinner conversations concentrated on the problems of a barrel tile roof and how to get flat panels safely secured onto the round tiles. As we discussed all the possibilities, our excitment rose. If we were going to put a few panels on the roof, why not put a lot of them on the roof! It was time to go completely solar with the house!

During our recent home re-model (a water leak in the laundry room wall changed the whole house), I was the one who did the research, buying and hiring. This project was all Roger’s. He searched the Internet until he found Michael Brown’s Solar Ray.

Michael was raised in New Mexico, where he was solar inspired during a sixth grade field trip to the Sandia National Laboratory. He is surprised that the residents of Florida haven’t embraced the power of the sun. He uses Photovoltaic cells made by the Evergreen Solar Company. Michael feels the carbon footprint of the company is right in line with the environment. He and Roger put their heads together, planned a system for our house and then called me in as a courtesy. When they told me the refrigerator would always be running even when the electrical grid was down, I was sold. I did request that the septic pump, dishwasher and washing machine keep chugging too. A childhood spent with the necessity of an outhouse, seeing grandma at the wringer washer and being the one who always did the supper dishes, has always kept me very aware of the modern conveniences that I would miss if I had to step back in time.

The solar cells are ordered, Roger is riding the FRED to the post office daily and I’m smiling at the future!

Photo by Camilla

Roadier Report 39 - Memories of "The Byrds" as told to Camilla McGuinn

2008-06-21T14:25:00.021-05:00

The Beginning - Jim McGuinn, David Crosby and Gene Clark

In July 2005, I wrote the first "Roadie Report" for Roger's web page. I wasn't sure I wanted this personal road diary to come under scrutiny of the world, but several different prompts set me to writing. After a few BLOG entries, I received an email from Jim Dickson, the godfather of the BYRDS, asking if I would like to write about some of his memories. I was honored and curious. Many different writers have chronicled the story of the Byrds in detail. I didn't feel I could add much to those details, but sometimes as we travel the world together, Roger will reflect on a memory I haven’t heard.

In May 2006, I began incorporating Jim Dickson's memories into the BLOG. This summer hiatus seemed like a fine time to share some more of the stories I have heard along the way about a magical time in the history of music. I will not be documenting a detailed description of the BYRDS history, just a few of the memories of old friends.

1963

Bob Hippard, Hoyt Axton's road manager, almost didn’t recognize Jim McGuinn as he walked toward him from the airline gate. This 21 year old who had toured two continents, played Carnegie Hall, been on national television, performed with world renowned musical artists, recorded on hit records now looked like a vagabond. His hair was long and combed forward, his big black crumpled raincoat looked huge over his thin frame and his pale skin was a sharp contrast to the warm southern California sun … but there was a glint of expectation in his eyes and in his walk.

Jim’s finances were at an ebb, so Bob drove him to Hoyt Axton’s house. Bob had arranged for Jim to stay at the guesthouse, where Hoyt’s mother, Mae Axton, resided when she was in town. They deposited Jim’s bags and musical instruments in the pool enclave. As they walked back to the car to go search for a bite to eat, Hoyt greeted them in the driveway. This down home Oklahoma boy grabbed Jim’s hand and invited them both into his home for refreshments. After hours of munching and smoking a vast quantity of imported Indian hemp, Bob reminded the musicians they both had a show the following night.

The Troubadour Club in West Hollywood was one of folk music’s hot spots in town. Jim had spent many hours on previous sojourns in Hollywood practicing his craft and meeting other artisans in the front room of the club, The Folk Den. Hoyt had recorded his album, "The Balladeer," in the club and was always a welcomed artist.

Jim was going to open the show, then singer songwriter; Roger Miller would precede Hoyt. Jim was tired when he sat down on the lone stool on stage. He began to quietly sing the Scottish folk song “Wild Mountain Thyme” but he became energized when he incorporated a Beatle beat to the lyrics. He loved it, but the audience didn’t. There was no response when he finished the song. The rest of the 30 minutes dragged on.

Roger Miller was tuning up in the small dressing room, when a very dejected Jim walked in and sat down on the other chair. “Jim, I liked what your doing out there.” Roger smiled at Jim as he shook his head. “ I watched you for awhile and I noticed something.” Roger softly spoke. “You got mad at the audience. They notice when a singer doesn’t like them. You might do a lot better if you didn’t show how upset you are when they don’t appreciate what you’re trying to do.” Roger left the dressing room. Jim could hear the enthusiastic applause greeting Roger Miller. He knew he needed to take the advice he had been given and change his attitude.

The next couple of nights were not any easier for Jim, but his attitude changed. He was ready to work hard with the hope some lone person would understand where he wanted to take his music.

One night, someone did. Gene Clark, a newcomer to town, fresh from the Missouri folk circuit, was in the audience. As soon as Jim was off stage, Gene went to find him. This soft spoken, good looking, dark-haired musician was excited about Jim’s innovative way of combining folk songs to the Beatles’ beat. Jim’s spirits lifted and they both agreed to meet the next day in the Folk Den to write some songs.

The collaboration between Jim and Gene was electric. Gene’s lyrical genius and Jim’s musical knowledge took these two hungry artists to new heights. Their voices blended beautifully as they sang the new songs they penned. When Jim began playing one of the new songs, “You Showed Me,” he felt his guitar move when an almost spiritual energy. He knew something wonderful was happening.

Two days into their song writing adventure, while they were jamming in the Folk Den, a student actor turned folk musician, heard them singing. He walked over and added an incredible harmony. During Jim’s first trip to Los Angeles in 1960 to accompany the Limeliters, he had spent a couple of weeks hanging out with this actor/singer. As the trio’s voices blended with a harmonic brilliance, their eyes flashed at each other with looks of wonder. Something awesome was happening. David Crosby hyperly shouted, "We make beautiful music together!" Jim wasn’t sure he wanted to work with this high-energy songbird. David saw Jim's hesitation and slyly mentioned he had a friend who would let them use his recording studio for free. Jim's qualms were quickly surpressed.

Jim Dickson,Roadie Report 14, was a producer for World Pacific Records. One of his productions, “12 String Guitar” sold several hundred thousand copies, enough to save the label from bankruptcy. World Pacific's owner, Dick Bock, rewarded Dickson with the key to the studio to use for his own purposes whenever there were no paying sessions on the schedule.

Dickson went in search of new talent to record demos in the studio. One night at the Unicorn, L.A.’s first coffeehouse, he heard David Crosby singing and being ignored by the audience. He was struck by the quality of David’s voice. Dickson's first recordings with David were with studio musicians. It was a standard practice to use the pros when recording. Jim had recently finished recording sessions with Dino Valente in a rock and roll format and decided to record David in a like manner.

Unfortunately, the tapes embarrassed David because folk music was the genre of the moment. Dickson wasn’t able to secure a recording deal for David, so he suggested he should switch from lead singer to a harmony singer. David had been in Lex Baxter’s Balladeers and resisted the direction. In the meantime, David kept a suitcase in Dickson’s garage and slept on different people's couches.

One day David arrived at the World Pacific studios high with excitement. He had found two guys he wanted to sing harmony with and if Dickson would get involved he was sure they would let him.

Dickson was familiar with Jim McGuinn, but had never heard of Gene Clark. David told Dickson he would only be a singer because both of the guys were much better guitar players than he was. David’s method of guitar playing was of the school of Travis Emundson - just learn the chords when you need them for the song you want to sing.

It was late at night, when David brought Jim and Gene to the World Pacific studio. Dickson asked them to sing a few songs. He felt their vocal sound was worth his time, since vocal blend was the most difficult achievement for a group. Their pseudo English accents did cause him to wonder about their motivation
.
Jim and David begged Dickson to go with them to a movie they had seen, “A Hard Days Night.” He finally understood the accents. The lads were excited about the movie.

On the sidewalk outside the theater, while McGuinn was busy explaining to Dickson his realization that most of the Beatles’ songs were based on folk chords, David was swinging around a lamp pole like Gene Kelly and yelling, "I want to be a Beatle!" McGuinn was also excited about George Harrison’s guitar. When he first heard the sound, he was sure it was a 12-string guitar, but in the movie it only looked like a 6-string from the front. Then, George turned sideways and Jim could see it was a Rickenbacker electric 12-string guitar! This veteran 12-string player had to have one of those magical instruments at any cost.

A few days later, David and Roger were standing on Hollywood Boulevard talking about how to become a band like the Beatles. David felt he could play bass, but they needed to find a drummer. They felt it was important for everyone to look English. As they were talking, a guy came strutting down the street who looked just like two of the Rolling Stones rolled into one package. They both pointed and said "him!"

It was an 18-year-old who was calling himself Michael Clarke. Roger had seen him in San Francisco playing bongos and they asked Michael if he could play drums. “Sure," he half-heartedly answered. They took him to the studio. Configured some cardboard boxes as drums and set a tambourine up for the snare drum. Michael sat down with a pair of sticks and began practicing.

David quickly realized he couldn’t concentrate on harmony while playing the bass. He asked Dickson to get another player. Dickson had recorded with an accomplished mandolin player named Chris Hillman. He first encountered Chris with the Bluegrass group, Scottsville Squirrel Barkers, then the Golden State Boys with Vern Gosdin. Their latest Dickson recording at World Pacific was the album, which became “The Hillmen” featuring Vern and Rex Gosdin, Don Parmley, and Chris.

Dickson felt Chris’s musicianship and the way he supported vocals would make him a good candidate to learn to play the bass, so he invited Chris to a rehearsal.

Dickson wasn’t planning on recording with the bass and drums, but did want them for live performances. He formed a business partnership with the original three musicians. He quickly realized in order for the partnership to survive, he would have to feed the lads who had no money or jobs. “Guess I have to feed you now,” was the line Dickson used when he felt the late night session was over. Hamburgers were the reward for a good night’s work.

The group was making progress. Dickson used his own money to bring in some studio musicians to play on two songs: “Please let Me Love You” and “Don’t Be Long.” He sold the songs to Elektra Records and told Jack Holzman to choose a name, but don't identify the members. He chose the name “Beefeaters.” Maybe it was the “British Invasion” or a gin bottle on the desk inspiring the moniker.

The group’s ability to perform live was still in question. They booked a show at the Troubadour. David played without an instrument and the result was an awkward singer slinking around the stage in the style of a chubby Mick Jagger. The audience was not impressed. David quickly grasped he wasn't going to be the next rock screamer and he needed the protection of a guitar. He joined McGuinn in lamenting about Gene's tempo changes. Gene felt songs were more dramatic if they were sung in a slower tempo. This habit drove the perfectionist musician, McGuinn, to distraction. Bobby Darin had impress upon Jim the importance of timing and to hear a song drag out of tempo was tough for him. The timing issue was the point David chose as a tool to undermine Gene's confidence as a guitar player. David had to quickly learn all the chords to the songs and Gene grabbed a tambourine as a prop. It was the beginning of the major rifts which often plagued the band: personalities, perfection and politics.

By then Dickson felt there was a future for the group and brought Eddie Tickner into the partnership to handle the business end. They needed money for instruments and the lads wanted to have suits like the Beatles. Eddie found a very wise investor with an available $5000 whose heirs still collect 5% of the initial royalties to this day.

Dickson drove McGuinn, Clarke and Crosby to the music store. Jim carried his Pete Seeger model 5-string banjo and Gibson acoustic 12-string guitar, a gift from Bobby Darin. He wanted a Rickenbacker 12-string and was willing to trade in both of his instruments to get one.

After the instrument purchases, Dickson dropped Jim off at the Padre hotel. Mae Axton had come to town, so Bob Hippard found Jim a room at the Padre Hotel for $4.00 a night. The moonbeams danced around the room as Jim played the guitar until he fell asleep, propped up against the pillow of the bed holding his new prize possession.

To be continued...someday.

Roadie Report 38 - Astronauts Hall of Fame and the Discovery Spaceship Launch Pad - by Camilla McGuinn

2008-05-31T10:52:00.033-05:00

The Discovery on the launch pad. (Photo by Camilla)

It’s Saturday, May 31, 2008; 4 hours 36 minutes and 42 seconds until the Space Shuttle Discovery blast off for its 14-day mission. We have always been excited about all the Space Shuttle launches, but this time we felt personally attached to the Discovery.

Our attachment to Discovery began on March 13. I received an email from Linn LeBlanc, Executive Director of the Astronauts Scholarship Foundation, asking if we were going to attend the Astronauts Hall of Fame (AHOF) induction Gala on May 2, being held at the Kennedy Space Center. Her next question, “Would Roger like to play a set of three songs to conclude the gala?”

After a flurry of emails and telephone calls, Roger's performance was confirmed, but with an added bonus. Two former astronauts who were two of the founders of the astronauts’ band, Max Q, were going to join him. Robert “Hoot” Gibson and Brewster Shaw were going to bring their guitars and soaring harmonies to entertain the spacemen.

The rehearsal for the three songs, “Mr. Tambourine Man,” Mr. Spaceman" and "Turn, Turn, Turn" was scheduled for Thursday, May 1. Unfortunately, Brewster had a business commitment and couldn’t make it for the Gala, so it was just Hoot, who joined us in our hotel room to fine tune the music. He had been practicing at home and we were wonderfully surprised at how well his talent blended with Roger’s.

In the evening, dinner was served for all the astronauts, scholarship winners and their families in a very casual setting in the hotel. It was the beginning of a reunion of friends who had a very unique bond. It was also Mercury Astronaut Scott Carpenter’s birthday.

Friday was a busy day. More astronauts were arriving and meeting with the press. A VIP reception was held at the AHOF before the gala dinner at the ASVC (Apollo/Saturn V Center.) We donned our fanciest clothes and boarded the bus with the astronauts. Half way through the reception, Hoot, Roger and I were driven to the ASVC for sound check. This unique hall had been transformed into an elegant dinner venue. It wasn’t the first time we have had dinner under the Saturn V rocket, but we still looked up in awe at the massive machine.

At 7 pm, the attending astronauts and their wives were individually introduced as they walked the red carpet to their tables. Each astronaut joined a different circular table to have dinner with the people who had bought tickets. I enjoyed watching the look of excitement on the dinner guest's faces as their own astronaut approached their table.

William Parsons , Director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, was sitting to my left. His stories were fascinating but one theme became prominent in our conversation. This ex-marine was quick to inform me which astronauts were former Marines as they walked the red carpet. I realized that being the daughter of a career Navy man; it was my responsibility to point out to him that the marines were a branch of the Navy! This humorous banter with Bill continued all evening.

I have written in a previous BLOG about the AHOF and the reasons for this event. Yes, it is to honor these amazingly brave pioneers, but it is also to encourage students to excel in the fields of math and science. Each year, the AHOF awards scholarships to students based only on scholastic achievement in the sciences. That evening, the scholars who were able to attend - one even skipped his college graduation - were presented to the audience. Then the four astronauts who were being inducted into the AHOF were introduced: Loren J. Shriver, Bryan D.O’Connor, Robert D. Cabana, and John E. Blaha .

After an Omega watch raffle, to add to the scholarship fund coffers, McGuinn and Gibson took the stage. Roger told me it was such a hoot to be playing with an astronaut, for a room full of astronauts under a Saturn V rocket. He could see their faces and they were all smiling and singing along.

The next day held one of the biggest adventures of our lives. At noon we boarded the bus again with the astronauts and found ourselves transported to launch pad 39A where the Discovery Space Shuttle was docked and being prepared for the May 31 launch. No one had told us where we were going and once the destination announcement was made, the atmosphere on the bus became electric. Everyone, including the astronauts, was jumping with excitment. For the astronauts it was going home again, for us it was an unbelievable opportunity to be very close to a piece of history where only a few have traveled.
Hoot Gibson, Roger and Al Worden in the shadow of Discovery's wing.

The smiles on the faces of this group of astronauts, their wives and one star-gazing musician, as they scurried up and down the stairs of the launch pad, were as big as the 347-foot structure. I kept saying, “We’re like a bunch of monkeys climbing all over this thing!” When we stood in front of the shuttle door, a workman asked," Who are these people?" I laughingly replied, "Astronauts. Don't you recognize me?" The men who had flown into space surrounded us and they were all full of information. Walking encyclopedias, walking history.

To top it all off, we got to stand next to the door that the Discovery Astronauts would enter for the STS-124 mission scheduled for May 31, 2008. I'm listening to that mission countdown on NASA TV as I'm writing this.

After being so close to the Discovery Shuttle to almost touch it - but it was too awesome to even put my hand in that direction - a bus took us to the ASVC for the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. It is a casual affair. An astronaut member of the AHOF reverently introduces an inductee and then proceeds to tell funny stories about the inductee's space antics. They honor and roast the new members at the same time, much to the delight of the audience.

If you ever plan a trip to the Kennedy Space Center, schedule it for the first weekend in May for this historical ceremony.

A final reception to toast the inductees was scheduled after the ceremony. But before this guild of space travelers dispersed, there was one last gathering - a private dinner for this family of astronauts and then the last moments in the private hospitality suite. This is where the jackets came off and the guitars came out.

Roger not only brought his guitar to the suite, but his “one laptop per child” computer. This little computer was designed to provide children around the world with new vistas. When the program first began, we were given an opportunity to buy one for a child and to buy one for ourselves.

Roger laid the computer on a table, picked up his guitar and watched as the astronaut who repaired the Hubble Space Telescope tried to open the computer. He carefully studied it, then opened the battery compartment. Roger began laughing and I jumped in to offer assistance. Even though I had used the computer, I realized I didn’t know how to open it either. Roger came to our rescue. I incredulously asked, “How do they expect children in third world countries to open it?” Roger smiled like an all knowing professor and assured me they had teachers schooled in instruction.

It was a good thing we had the OLPC computer. Everyone was in a singing mood. A familiar song was requested but we realized we didn't know all of the lyrics. The melody is so sweet we wanted to keep singing it, so Roger opened the computer and googled the words. We ended the night with the spacemen huddled around a laptop built to enlighten the world’s children, singing, “Amazing Grace.”

Singing Spacemen-Hoot Gibson, Jeffrey Hoffman, Roger and Charlie Duke

The next morning, Astronaut Al Worden, chairman of The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, shook Roger’s hand goodbye and said, “See you next year.”

2 hours, 17 minutes and 42 seconds to blast off!

All photos by Camilla McGuinn

email the roadie at mcguinnroadiereport@gmail.com

Raodie Report 37 - 30 Years, Kaukonen, Mansfield, Martin and Springsteen! - by Camilla McGuinn

2008-04-26T10:22:00.035-05:00

A Foggy NYC Day (photo by Camilla)

Thirty years have passed and we have hardly noticed. Our life together has been filled with love, some hot water, some cold water, a wee bit of tepid water and a whole bunch of adventures. We were packing again for another adventure. Another opportunity to share music and stories. In between concerts we were going to celebrate our 30th anniversary of togetherness.

We stopped in at Jorma Kaukonen’s “Fur Peace Ranch.” Jorma and his wife, Vanessa, founded the ranch in 1988 as a school of guitar and music. They also built an intimate concert venue at this outpost located in the rolling hills of Ohio. It was the second time that Roger has been invited to play for a very enthusiastic sold out audience. It was at this concert, where Roger began telling the story of “Gene Tryp” again – with a few modifications.

With a few days off before the IMAC Theater concert in Huntington, NY, we decided to spend our anniversary at Minetta’s Tavern in Greenwich Village. Our plan was to enjoy a quiet lunch at Minetta’s, then spend the evening toasting the Empire State Building from the view of our hotel suite on the Hudson River.

The Italian lunch was exactly what we had envisioned. As we were saying good bye to our usual waiter, he told us that Minetta’s was closing! It had been sold and even though the new owner says he isn’t changing the décor, there will be some remodeling and a major menu change. Roger’s favorite Italian restaurant in the Village, the one he frequented in the 60s, was about to become French!

We reluctantly left the restaurant, took a picture and slowly walked down Minetta Lane. I looked up and my mouth dropped open. On the marquis of the Minetta Lane Theater was the name of the play I performed in at Longwood College in 1969 – The Adding Machine. We decided right then, to call Roger’s son Patrick and invite him to join us for one last (Italian) meal at Minetta’s and to attend this musical adaptation of Elmer Rice’s projection of the future.

On April 5th, Roger received an email from David Mansfield. The two of them met on “The Rolling Thunder Revue.” David was 18 then and a musical prodigy. Since there was a concert close to his house, he wanted to see Roger and catch up on old times. Roger asked him to bring his instruments and to come early for sound check.

David arrived with a violin and two guitars. He saw the banjo sitting on stage; he said he didn’t play that instrument. Roger handed it to him, “Here, try it.” His untrained banjo hands began picking like a pro. Some people are just born to make music. The evening was enchanting. That night, Roger played with the musician we want to engage to help with the “Chestnut Christmas” CD we will be recording this summer.

The Martin Guitar factory is on the way to Vienna, Virginia from New Jersey. Roger always seizes the opportunity to go there to smell the wonderful aroma of hand made guitars being lovingly crafted. It was also a very good time to pick up some guitar strings and to show Dick Boak, Roger's new tuning of the 12-string. I picked up two denim chef's aprons with the Martin logo … interesting. Well I got one for Roger too! I’m not going to be in the kitchen by myself!

We finished the concerts at the Barns in Vienna and the Maltz Theater in Jupiter, FL then headed home for a few days. Our bags were still waiting to be unpacked when we received an email from Steven Van Zandt’s assistant, Nicole, with an invitation to attend Bruce Springsteen’s concert that night. Our schedule had been so full,we did not even realize he was in town. We replied quickly. Within the hour, the telephone rang. It was Steven.

Bruce wanted to know if Roger would join him and the E Street Band on stage for a song. The Springsteen machine dispatched a car to pick us up in time for sound check.

Steven and Nicole met us at the back stage entrance and immediately escorted us to the stage. Max Weinberg was already on stage and greeted us both with a big hug. Max and his wife Becky had been to our house years ago for dinner.

My camera was tucked in my bag. I understand the importance of not taking pictures without permission but my familiarity with Max gave me the courage to ask if I could get a picture of him and Roger. My hands were shaking. The photo with Max was the only one I the courage to take all night.

We were talking to Max on stage when Bruce walked up and shook Roger's hand. My mind went tripping. I was standing on the stage where Bruce Springsteen was going to perform and he had just talked to me. It is moments like these when I hope I don’t have a really silly expression on my face. We had talked to Bruce years ago at Tom Petty’s house, but standing on his stage with him was mind blowing.

I left the stage and walked out into the arena to listen to the sound check. Looking around I noticed that there was not a soul around except for the required personnel. It was a closed sound check. I sat down on the steps leading to the seats and listened to the opening notes of “Turn, Turn, Turn” sweetly sounding from the incredible speakers. The E Street Band played it like it was in their daily repertoire.

Roger sang a verse, then Bruce sang a verse.

When Bruce was satisfied with the performance, he requested another song, “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Roger sang the Byrds' version. When he finished Bruce asked, “Is that all? I thought there were more words.” Roger told him there were a lot more words; in fact he has been singing all the verses in his recent concerts, so he knew every one of them. They decided on the verses they wanted to sing for the audience. I saw Roger waving his hand as he talked about the verse with the line “one hand waving free”

Bruce Springsteen is "The" amazing performer. His energy and love for the music carries not only him but also his band and audience to heights very seldom seen. After the concert, as we were saying goodbye to Clearance Clemens, Bruce walked up. His eyes were shining and his energy was still soaring. He was a man happy about his day’s work.

COMING SOON!

The pic of Roger & Camilla taken by the camera remote control.
All other photos by Camilla.

email the roadie at mcguinnroadiereport@gmail.com

Roadie Report 36 - Sundazed, Astronauts and a Garden

2008-03-22T11:44:00.019-05:00

An Eclipse (Photo by Camilla)

We have been home for six weeks, so when I sat down at my desk this Saturday morning, I didn’t have a clue what to write but to write I must. We happily go on the road again on Wednesday and the April Blog must be uploaded to mcguinn.com.

I could write about all the things we try to catch up on when we’re home from touring, but those details might get too mundane. I will tell you that we did get the taxes done, at the cost of a couple of trees (Roadie Report 35). And some important tape archives had a touch of organization applied to them with the help of Bob Irwin from Sundazed Music.

Oh...now I know! I can write about Bob and Mary. They are mentioned in a former Blog but their love of music and the way Bob seeks it out of mysterious places in order to save it deserves attention.

Roger met Bob during the compiling of the first BYRDS Box Set. He was on staff at SONY music as a producer/engineer while also creating and growing his own unique record label, SUNDAZED, with his wife Mary.

Bob diligently combs the world for lost or forgotten tapes and recordings. Once he finds the music, he artfully re-packages it in the style of a fine sculpturer who works with a rare piece of marble.

For years Roger and I have moved boxes of reel-to-reel tapes from one home to another. During each move, I would ask Roger as we were stacking the heavy boxes into another closet, “What are on these tapes?” The reply was always, “I’m not sure, but I know there might be some important recordings in these boxes.”

During a forced re-modeling project – a leaking pipe – we decided to move all those boxes one more time. We gathered every tape in the house out of all the closets and cubbyholes and put them all together in one place. We found a 1971 live recording at the Royal Albert Hall and figured that if anyone could do something with it, Bob Irwin could and would. That record will be released soon. Keep checking the SUNDAZED web page for updates.

Bob and Mary decided to escape the New York winter and spend a few weeks in Florida. They chose a town that is about an hour from our house. I realized that their close proximity created a wonderful opportunity to add some order to those boxes of tapes. A quick email to Bob inviting them over for a meal and to peruse our tape vault netted an even quicker response from Bob.

They arrived early in the day and after hugs, laughter and catch-up conversation, we couldn’t wait to see Bob investigate the mysterious tapes. Roger even filmed the moment. It was very exciting. With each new rare tape Bob’s face lit up and he had a story to tell about it. He is a musical historian.

I’m not going to tell you what he found and he doesn’t want to be inundated with phone calls, but collectors and fans can rest assured that some wonderful recordings are now in the hands of a true artist. What and when? Keep an eye on SUNDAZED, they don’t do anything in a shoddy way, so they won’t rush it.

Roger and I felt very blessed when we loaded boxes of tapes into the Irwin’s car. We were no longer being negligent with a musical history. Not all the tapes are keepers. Bob couldn’t listen to them here because we no longer have the equipment to play the tapes, but he is so meticulous that he didn’t want to leave some rare recording left sitting in the vault.

My "science experiment" (Photo by Camilla)

Today I didn't know what was going to be the subject of this blog but now the words and pictures are compiled for the April up-load. I still have time to prepare for an Easter lunch for friends, pack my equipment for the upcoming tour which will also include the celebration of our 30th wedding anniversary on April First and putter in the garden - my “science experiment.” What might sound mundane, now sounds like fun!

One more thing, May 3rd is the U.S Astronaut Hall of Fame Induction at the Kennedy Space Center. Roger has been invited to sing a few songs with a couple of the musical Astronauts during the evening of the Induction Gala. It is always an honor for him to be surrounded by real spacemen! This is open to the public and if you want to explore and meet living history get your tickets early.

Part of my "science experiment" (Photo by Camilla)

The pics of Bob Irwin are frames from the video filmed by Roger.
All other photos by Camilla.

email the roadie at mcguinnroadiereport@gmail.com

Roadie Report 35 - On The Road Again! by Camilla McGuinn

2008-03-01T09:00:00.003-05:00

Sunset in California (Photo by Camilla)

Even though it was still January, I felt like a winter was over in our lives. I was driving on Interstate 10, headed to California and listening to the sounds of Roger playing his 7-string in the back of the van. He had never stopped practicing, even when the cast was on, but the cast was now off and we were off to do what we love – sharing music.

Napa Scene (photo by Camilla)

We gave ourselves time to stop in Tucson and we were surprised to find that we were still a few days ahead of schedule, so we detoured to Napa Valley. It was the off season thus the hotel rooms were plentiful with reduced rates. We even managed to book a reservation at a restaurant that normally has a three-month waiting list.

It was exciting to be heading for the Mondavi Center For The Performing Arts in Davis, Ca. It has an amazing auditorium and there were over 1300 tickets sold. The theater was so perfect that Roger didn’t even need monitors for the performance.

We steered our van north on Interstate 5 during the late rainy morning of February 2. With the first successful concert under our belts after the fall, we were relaxed and excited to spend a few days with our friends at the King Estate Winery in Eugene, Oregon. As we approached Redding, CA, the traffic warning signs began flashing. “Interstate 5 was closed due to snow 10 miles north of Redding.” We couldn’t really believe what we were reading, so we pulled into a truck stop. I went in to inquire while Roger pumped the gas and sure enough, a hand written sign was posted over the cashier’s stand - the road was closed.

Room With A View (Photo by Camilla)

I went back to the van, connected to the Internet and found a hotel in Redding with a restaurant and a room available. It was still early in the day and the highway had just closed. The story changed as the night approached, all the rooms filled quickly and as I passed the hotel check in desk while picking up our dinner, I heard concerned travelers begging for a room. It was then that I decided it would be a good idea to book the room for another night. It would give me a chance to catch up on some bookkeeping and we could watch Super Bowl Sunday.

Now we aren’t big football fans, but Super Bowl Sunday is an American tradition where most of the country gathers around a box, eats a lot of comfort food and stays in front of that box when the commercials are on. Bathroom runs are taken during the play of the game. Or at least that is how I have always viewed the day, besides this was a special Super Bowl - Tom Petty was the half-time entertainment. We ordered all the comfort food on the room service menu, turned on the box and then I went out to take pictures of the sunset. I did get back in time for Tom’s performance.

We crossed the California/Oregon border early the next morning under sunny skies. The mountains are steep there and I’m glad we didn’t have to drive the roads during a snowstorm. By noon we were driving through the gates of The King Estate Winery and were warmly greeted by Ed King, III in the parking lot.
Winter at the King Estate (photo by Camilla)

Steve Thomson, the Executive Vice President of the Winery, asked if we were hungry and quickly ushered us to the new restaurant on the estate. Even though it was a cloudy cool day, we were made very warm by the roaring fire and delicious food. The restaurant is open daily and we highly recommend spending a relaxing meal in that beautiful Oregon setting.

Parting is such sweet sorrow (photo by Camilla)

The visits with Justin King, the son of Ed and a wonderful guitar player, and Karen and Steve Thomson were too short, but there was another concert in Portland, Oregon that was happily on our agenda. The Thomsons even drove to Portland to see the concert. Karen volunteered to work at the "lemonade stand" and Steve volunteered to carry equipment. We also accepted the energy of Phil Garfinkel from Audix microphones to bring some stability to the backstage chaos of the evening.

The last show of the tour was in Bothell, Washington. The weather was cold and the mountain passes were closed from snow. We were hoping that by the time we headed south that the snow and passes would clear because it was the pathway of our return home.

The Northshore Performing Arts Center is a wonderful partnership between a community and a school district. Volunteers raised money to build a state-of-the-art 600-seat theater on the campus of Bothell High School. The residents and the students have all deeply benefited from this beautiful endeavor. It was the perfect ending to this three-concert tour.

The weather did clear on February 11 and the Snoqualmie Mountain pass was clear. The GPS guided us to the most direct route from Bothell to Tucson. That route included what I call some goat paths, but the snow wasn’t on us, it was following us. By the time we got to Tucson, people on the highways we had traveled over were stranded in snow.
Over the goat trails (photo by Camilla)

We spent Valentine’s Day lunch with Roger’s mother and brother and then sped off to El Paso, Texas. Texas is a very large state and it usually takes at least 2 days to cross it on Interstate 10. The idea of doing all 880 miles in one day was intriguing, but we had to be in El Paso so we could wake up early and hit the road. We were also looking forward to a romantic dinner to celebrate the Big Hearts Day. For a present, Roger bought me the DVD of "Mrs. Miniver." It was a film I watched as a child and mentioned to Roger that I would love to see it again. He found a copy on the Internet and we saved it to watch on Valentine's Day. Our laptop computer became our movie screen and Roger connected to bedside radio for a big sound. Once again modern technology connected us to the past.

Waking up early does have some sweet advantages. This time it was seeing the lights of Juarez twinkling in the morning dawn. I never sought to find the beauty of that Interstate 10 city before, but this trip opened my eyes.

There are parts of Texas where the speed limit is 80 mph. That helped in our quest to cross the state. I did kinda miss the wonderful Columbus, Texas Mexican restaurant where we had dinner on the way to California, but we were on a mission. Going toward the east in winter made the trip harder and then the rains came. It rained all through the Houston rush hour traffic and from there to Sulphur, Louisiana. When I drove into the hotel parking lot, cheese and crackers on our bed sounded like a feast!

We made it through Texas in one day. What we thought was just a fun adventure, turned out to be a good idea. Tornadic activity continued to hit the places we had just been all the way home to Florida.

Home...just in time to prepare for taxes! Boy would I like to see a flat tax rate and just one sheet of paper. Time for those politicians to save a whole bunch of trees before they’re all gone

The Trees Are All Gone
(written by: Roger McGuinn, McGuinn Music and
Camilla McGuinn, April First Music
Recorded 1991 on "Back From Rio")

The glaciers near the polar camp
Have all begun to melt
Temperatures are on the rise
Far from the southern belt

Water levels shifting tides
On every changing land
Rain forests in the Amazon
Have vanished from our hand

And the trees are all gone
Yeah you know it's all wrong
And the trees are all gone

The people want to eat today
And so they clear the land
Global warming is a concept
They can't understand
But all the politcians now
They have no excuse
They just hide behind their power
And keep us from the truth

Man has tried his suicide
With bigotry and hate
But in the end he'll kill himself
With nothing but his waste

What will finally happen when
The farm lands turn to dust
When only rich receive the food
And nothing's left for us

But all the politcians now
They have no excuse
They just hide behind their power
And keep us from the truth

email the roadie at mcguinnroadiereport@gmail.com

Roadie Report 34 - 1965- Jim McGuinn sends a letter home.

2008-02-01T10:13:00.001-05:00

In 1965 Jim McGuinn (Roger) sent this publicity photo home to his parents with this letter written on the back.

Click on letter to enlarge.

email the roadie at mcguinnroadiereport@gmail.com

Roadie Report 33 - Bionic Wrist will travel! by Camilla McGuinn

2008-01-19T10:31:00.001-05:00

The cast is off!

Roger asked Dr. White if he could put a GPS into his wrist just as the surgeon was making an incision to insert a metal plate and screws, but the doctor didn't have one handy. So we will begin the next tour driving across country to the Mondavi Center in Davis California for a February 1 concert, with the old fashion GPS. From there we will head north for concerts in Portland, Oregon and Bothell, Washington. Bring your cell phones and be the first to post on Youtube the "bionic wrist" playing "Eight Miles High!"

email the roadie at mcguinnroadiereport@gmail.com

Roadie Report 32 - 2007 - It was an adventure!

2007-12-29T16:21:00.001-05:00

As I reflect back on the year 2007, my breath slowly emanates as my head shakes in wonderment. It indeed was the best of times and the worst of times. Roger played at Carnegie Hall, Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville and The Auditorium Theater in Chicago. We flew around the world with stops in Japan, Dubai and Germany. Then caught a train home from Washington, DC. All of that on top of a full schedule of concerts throughout the year.

Our final tour was going to culminate with the Christmas Celebration at the “special lady’s” house in Tucson, Arizona.

October 10, 2007

Roger was invited to sing a song in tribute to Elton John at Carnegie Hall. The song he sang wasn’t as well known as most of Sir Elton’s tunes, but Roger chose a song with a unique melody line and a favorite of mine, “Friends.”

We arrived in NYC a day early to rehearse with the band, “Fools for April.” Phoebe Snow was scheduled just before us and as we listened to her heart-felt rendition of “Empty Garden,” we knew she would bring the house down and she did!

Thai for Dinner (Photo by Camilla)

During sound check, we sat in the beautiful auditorium of Carnegie Hall and watched all the acts perform those magical songs written by Elton and Bernie Taupin. We felt like we were viewing our own personal concert. The Hall is a union hall, so when it went dark for dinner, we headed to a nearby Thai restaurant recommended by the sound engineer. You can be sure the crew knows all the good places to eat!

October 29, 2007

Martin Guitar had a request from their distributor in Japan for Roger to perform for their clients during their annual trade show.
We were delighted to be going back to Japan and as I researched the airfares, I found a very interesting alliance between United Airlines and Emirates. Two people could fly around the world for less than the price of one person flying in the same class of service round trip. There were just a few stipulations: 1. You have to fly in only one direction – no back tracking! 2. All trips across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans have to be on United Airlines. 3. You have to stay out of the country for 10 days and make 3 overnight stops. The Martin distributors were very happy I found this fare and didn’t object to our staying in Yokohama for an entire week.
Yokohama, Japan (photo by Camilla)

At the Martin Promotion (Both Photos by Camilla)

After a wonderful concert and a lot of interviews, we continued our westbound trip with a connection in Seoul for our flight to Dubai, our second stop. We were staying at the Ritz Carlton and I had requested that they send a car to pick us up when we landed at 5am. That was one of my wiser decisions. The Dubai airport is huge and the gentleman who met us as we disembarked took the stress out of the trek through immigration and to the car.
Dubai Hotel (Photo by Camilla)
Our eyes were eagerly peeled for the sights of Dubai during our 30 minute drive to the hotel. The Dubai highway has 10 lanes and construction cranes are everywhere. The city is flourishing into a commerce and tourist destination, very similar to Las Vegas.
Dubai Oasis (Photo by Camilla)

Our hotel was one of the originals in that city and these days its architectural charm is dwarfed by a sprawling sea of high rise buildings. Fortunately, the Ritz is right on the beach and if you don’t look back, you will feel like you’re in an oasis. The wonderful staff at the hotel will do everything to make sure your stay is refreshing.

From Dubai, Emirates Airlines took us to Germany. We spent the evening in the Hamburg Courtyard by Marriott. Yes it was a contrast from the palatial hotel in Dubai, but an ever so sweet one. I surmised it was once an independent inn because it also had a wonderful restaurant, an uncommon feature in the same chain in the states.

We left Germany from Frankfurt, flew to Washington, DC, then hopped on board Amtrak for the overnight train trip home to Orlando and back to more business.

For months, I had been working with Denny Tedesco to arrange an interview with Roger for a documentary on the famous Los Angeles a-list of musicians, “The Wrecking Crew.” During the course of one line emails, The Musicians Hall Of Fame’s ceremony for the induction of the “The Wrecking Crew” entered into the conversation and Roger was invited to once again play with this royal court of musicians.

January 20, 1965

The “Wrecking Crew” were the top studio musicians in Los Angeles who played on all the hits. The Byrds were signed with Columbia records for just one single. If the single made it, they could record an album. Jim (Roger) McGuinn was the only musician in the Byrds who’d had professional studio experience, so Terry Melcher, the producer assigned by Columbia, decided to call in “The Wrecking Crew” to get the job done.

Jim had already developed a unique sound on the Rickenbacker because of his banjo training at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago but even with session work under his belt, he was a little nervous. He quietly entered the studio, unpacked his guitar and was introduced to the “crew.” His hands were cold and his confidence low. Hal Blaine, the drummer, took one look at him and said, “Relax kid. It’s gonna be all right.”

It wasn’t only all right, it was a number one hit. Jim joined the “wrecking crew” for one 3 hour session and under the guiding hand of Terry Melcher, they recorded two instrumental tracks: “Mr Tambourine Man” and “I Knew I’d Want You.” Gene Clark and David Crosby later joined Jim to sing the vocal tracks.

November 22, 2007 –Thanksgiving Day

We began driving to Nashville on Thanksgiving Day. For years I have planned big gatherings of friends or romantic trips to celebrate this feast day, but this year, I had made no plans. Now I understood why. We decided to leave on Thanksgiving Day to avoid the heavy weekend traffic. I booked us a room in Macon, Georgia and was sure that there would be a restaurant close by to provide dinner. There were several restaurants close by, but not one of them was open. Even all the pizza delivery places were closed. Our Thanksgiving 2007 is one we will never forget. It was a vending machine feast!
Schermehorn Symphony Hall (Photo by Camilla)

The Musicians Hall of Fame Awards show was held at the beautiful Schermerhorn Symphony Center on November 26.
The inductees included the Nashville A-Team, The Blue Moon Boys, The Funk Brothers, The Memphis Boys, The Tennessee Two and The Wrecking Crew. Some of the guest artist performing with the talented gathering were Brenda Lee, Creed Bratton, Peter Frampton, George Jones, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, B.J Thomas, Dobie Gray, Garth Brooks, Rodney Crowell and John Carter Cash.
Roger was honored to be on the same stage with this vast pool of talent and even more honored to play “Mr. Tambourine Man” again with The Wrecking Crew.
Roger playing with The Wrecking Crew, Hal Blaine and Larry Knechtel (photo by Camilla)
December 1, 2007

Nashville was a wonderful stop on the way to Roger’s hometown, Chicago. He was invited to join in the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Old Town School of Folk Music at the Auditorium Theatre. It was at the Old Town School that Jim McGuinn was taught his intricate banjo and guitar picking by Frank Hamilton. Frank was going to be performing that evening as well.
Auditorium Theatre in Chicago (Photo by Camilla

Frank Hamilton backstage playing Roger's 7-string (Photo by Camilla)

I emailed Colleen and asked her if she could work in a duet for Roger and Frank. Just the thought of the teacher and student reunion brought tears to my eyes. The schedule was tight, but it worked out and I think there were more tears in the audience that night after they sang together.
Video of Frank and Roger rehearsing Finnegan's Wake.

A blanket of snow was covering our van as I eased it out of the parking lot for our drive to Utah. We watched the weather report and were confident that the storm had passed in the night and the roads on Interstate 80 would be clear. The storm the night before must have been horrific. We passed at least 12 large semi-trucks lying on their sides on both sides of the highway before we reached our stopping place for the night, Kearney Nebraska.

As I type this story…….. this is where I begin breathing slowly.

Roger parked the van after we unloaded the equipment. Even though it was only around 6pm, the sky was dark. He had noticed the snow and was cautiously walking under the awning to the entrance of the hotel, when his feet slipped out from under him on a huge patch of ice. He naturally reached out with his right arm to break the fall. It was a hard landing. His wrist broke.

I was still in the lobby, when he rushed in and told me he had fallen and broken the wrist he was holding. After a quick look, I shouted for ice. There was a man in the lobby who immediately came to our assistance and when I asked for directions to a hospital he volunteered to take us there.

Roger’s arm was set in a cast and we were given orders to return home to Florida for further care. Two months of concerts had to be canceled, so was the Christmas reunion with Roger's very special 97 year old mother. Once home, surgery was performed on the wrist and a metal plate inserted. The cast will come off on January 3 and we will be back on the road January 25th for a concert on February 1st at the Mondavi Center in Davis, CA. Hope to see you there!

A rose in Yokohama (Photo by Camilla)
email the roadie at mcguinnroadiereport@gmail.com

A Winter Fall But Roger Will Spring Back!

2007-12-03T19:55:00.001-05:00

"The winter ice took another victim on December 3rd. Roger caught himself with his right arm to break the fall. It is now in a cast until mid-January.
His concerts will be re-scheduled and he thanks everyone for their prayers and good wishes.

Roadie Report 31 - "The Rolling Thunder Revue"

2007-12-01T00:00:00.001-05:00

Roger, Joni and Joan

A few days after we hugged Barry McGuire goodbye, we loaded our van and hit the road. October has always been our favorite time of year to tour. The minute the landscape colors change from Florida’s green and blue to the scarlet kissed trees of the Virginia mountains, we both excitedly reminisce about our favorite autumn stories. Roger’s is about the Fall of 1975, when he joined Bob Dylan’s "Rolling Thunder Revue."
Video From RTR - Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Spring 1975

Roger and Bob Dylan were casually tossing basketballs at Roger’s Carbon Canyon home in Malibu when Bob paused. Holding the ball, he looked out over the ocean view and commented, “I want to do something different.”

“What do you mean?” Roger knew the word “different” from Bob could be a door into the outer limits.

“I don’t know ... something like a circus." Then he tossed the ball toward the basket.

Fall 1975

Roger McGuinn and Band's touring schedule had a two week break, so Roger and Al Hersh, his road manager, headed for the infamous Rock 'n' Roll hotel, The Gramercy Park in New York City. After checking in, they went to Gerde’s Folk City in Greenwich Village. A few drinks and several request later, Roger decided to perform a few songs - the “techie” McGuinn way. He had Al put one of their walkie-talkies on a stool on the stage in front of the microphone. Then he sang one of his favorite sea chanties, “Heave Away Me Johnnies” from his seat at the table into the walkie-talkie he was holding. Once the audience became aware of where the voice in the small box was coming from, they shouted for more. Roger borrowed a guitar and joined his walkie-talkie on stage.

Larry Sloman, a writer from Rolling Stone, was in the audience. After Roger returned to his table, Mr. Sloman boldly introduced himself. Roger was intrigued with the manner of this young reporter but he was also hungry. He invited Larry to join him for dinner in China Town. Over a plate of Moo Goo Gai Pan, Larry mentioned that Dylan was over at the Other End. Roger paid the bill and said, "Let's go find Bob."

The “Other End” was a folk club that had once been called “The Bitter End.” Roger had recorded there years earlier with The Chad Mitchell Trio. The minute they walked in the door, the owner of the club, Paul Colby, recognized Roger and directed him to the back room. Dylan was sitting at a table with Roger’s friend and writing partner, Jacques Levy. Bob and Jacques had their heads close together, talking earnestly over two full brandy sniffers. They both looked up simultaneously, noticed the disheveled long haired shadow in the doorway and shouted, “Roger - we were just talking about you!” They jumped up quickly ... the table and drinks went flying, just like in a old time western movie. Roger ordered another round of drinks for everyone and Bob told him about the show he was planning with a group of folkies from the old days in the Village. He and Jacques wanted Roger to join the revue.

It had been a long day for Roger and he was groggy enough to give a quick answer. “Sorry man ... I’ve got a tour booked.”

The next day, Larry called Roger and asked him, “Do you remember last night? Bob invited you on his tour and you told him that you couldn’t go.” In the light of the morning sun, Roger realized that this was something that he wanted to do and called his agent. He told him to put his band on retainer and to cancel the rest of the tour. He was going to join Bob Dylan’s “Rolling Thunder Revue.”

“Rolling Thunder’s” rehearsals were at Studio Instrument Rentals in mid-town Manhattan and lasted for a few days. The band wanted to have an unusual name. They decided on someplace no one had ever been. They called it Guam. In October, a rag-tag caravan of buses and motor homes hit the road to electrify the Eastern Seaboard.

Dylan led the way in a red Cadillac convertible. He was a modern day Peter Pan taking a band of “flower children” to “Neverland.” His plan was to arrive unannounced in any town that had a stage available, have people give out fliers for a show that night and entertain a bemused but excited audience for hours.

Jacques Levy was the director, Alan Ginsburg and Peter Orlovsky were the poets. Sam Shepard was the screen writer/actor for the film of the tour being produced. Harry Dean Stanton, Sarah Dylan and Joan Baez were actors. Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Joni Mitchell, Bobby Newwirth, T-Bone Burnette, Steven Soles, Ronee Blakely, Rob Stoner, Mick Ronson, David Mansfield and Larry ‘Ratso’ Sloman were all part of the original cast of this traveling band of gypsies and “when no one was looking, McGuinn was there too!”

Mr. Dylan housed the band in resort hotels with hospitality suites for the comfort of everyone. The suite was stocked with a complimentary bar from five in the evening until two in the morning. That will explain a line in this song that Roger and Jacques wrote about the tour. But this song also captures the wonderful mystery and fantasy that can come from knowing a modern day Shakespeare aka Peter Pan.

"Take Me Away" by Roger McGuinn and Jacques Levy

You should have been there when
The time was right for the music to begin
You shoulda been there when
That band of gypsies started rollin' in
You should seen it
You'da swore for sure the circus came to town
There were ladies ridin' bareback
And the mystery man
All painted like a clown
You should seen October feelin'
Like I never felt before
Flashin' up New England skies
Like the fires of the revolutionary war
You shoulda heard the music comin' down
Like the hardest rain that ever fell
Wakin' up in the afternoons
With a hundred lovers feedin' in the same motel

Take me away take me away take me away
Take me away take me away take me away
Take me away take me away take me away
Take me away take me away take me away

To the place where the greatest
Show on earth is playin' high on your highway
You shoulda seen me
I've been told I had a smile upon my face
Slippin' from state to state
Endin' up in a drunken state of grace
It wasn't very long ago
I used to say this kind of life is rough
You shoulda been there
But I can tell you even that was not enough

Take me away take me away take me away
Take me away take me away take me away
Take me away take me away take me away
Take me away take me away take me away

After the concerts, the band often piled into the buses to head out into the dark of the moonlit sky. They went from the “flower children in Neverland” to “pirates in the night.” Black was the color of the clothes and the swashbucklers were riding the waves of the highways. One dark night, the bus diver caught a glimpse of Joan Baez in his rear view mirror, dancing down the aisle of the bus, waving her hand over her head in the style of all the pirates on board. Roger and Jacques crafted the song “Jolly Roger” to recall the spirit of those moments.

Roger needed a few more songs for his next album. He wanted to capture the exhilarating, inspiring, excitement of the tour in the studio, so he tapped Mick Ronson to be his producer. They decided to title the record “Cardiff Rose” after the ship in the song “Jolly Roger.” Ronson brought the band “Guam” into the studio.

Joni Mitchell was habitually writing lyrics in her black and white composition book while the tour bus “Phydeaux” rolled down the highway. One of the songs in that notebook was “Dreamland.” When Roger asked her for a song to record on his album, she gave it to him, but wasn't quiet sure if one line would work for Roger. She smiled when Roger suggested the "folk tradition" of changing lyrics to match the gender of the singer. He would change "Dorothy Lamour sarong” to "an Errol Flynn sarong.” There were so many words in the song, he wondered if anyone would notice the difference or even laugh at the image of Errol Flynn in a sarong.

Roger still needed one more song for his album, so he asked Bob. Generously, Bob gave him the unrecorded opus “Up To Me.” As a personal tribute to both artists, Roger decided to sing the songs in the inimitable styles of the authors because he'd always admired and appreciated the way they both sang.

It was on the “Rolling Thunder Revue” that Ramblin’ Jack Elliot entertained Roger with stories of his adventures touring with his lady Polly. He told him about the times the two of them would put their bags and guitars in the back of a Land Rover and barn storm across America, singing in old vaudeville theaters. Roger was thoroughly enjoying the lack of responsibility of the Revue, but he knew that when it was all over, he would be back at the helm of a band and entourage of people who counted on him for their livelihood. He filed Jack’s stories in the recesses of his mind with the hope that someday, he too could tell stories of love and freedom on the open road.

2007

“The Rolling Thunder Revue” was a moment in the history of a group of troubadours who went to “Neverland.” I wonder if anything like that could ever happen again. Well ... “Tinkerbell” revived because we all sat glued in front of our black and white television sets and said, “I believe, I believe.”

The times - they have changed.

Who Is The Roadie?

2007-10-27T10:49:00.000-05:00

Industry Profile: Camilla McGuinn
By Bob Grossweiner & Jane Cohen
http://www.celebrityaccess.com

Never lost in the woods with a GPS in hand. Photo by Steve Goldman

Roger and Camilla are standing somewhat stoically, almost like the Grant Wood painting American Gothic, at the Skyline Music booth at this year's Association of Performing Arts Performers (APAP) conference at the New York Hilton. Even stranger is that Roger is wearing a name tag spelling out his first name. So is Camilla.

We decided to mosey over. After telling Roger McGuinn that we have been long time fans going back to the days of The Byrds, we ask Camilla what she does. "I'm the tour manager," she says unabashedly. And a few seconds later adds "and a roadie." (Camilla turns out to be Camilla McGuinn, Roger's wife.)

So we ask Camilla if she would like to be profiled. Roger is smiling since someone is asking his wife to be interviewed instead of him. Weeks later she can only come up with this for her profile biography section: "met Roger Jan. 17, 1978, married him April 1, 1978, went to work for him in 1981 and have been his road manager ever since."

When pressed for some more background information, weeks later, she says, "Roger emailed me this list of my jobs a while back. After reading it, I think I'll ask for a raise."

Roger begins: "Camilla is Child of God, Loving Wife, Best Friend, Song Writer,
Internationally Read Author, Record Producer (Grammy winning),
Audio Engineer (Grammy winning), Theatrical Lighting Designer,
Music Publisher, Tour Manager, Travel Agent,
Roadie (but doesn't change strings), Accountant,
Investment Executive, Domestic Engineer,
Interior Decorator, Cross Country Trucker,
Customer Service Executive, Public Relations Executive,
Merchandise Vendor and Events Coordinator."

Camilla is on a roll now.

"Before I met Roger, I was living in Los Angeles and studying acting," she reminisces. "I'd been a drama major at Longwood College in Farmville, Va. , but like a lot 60's students, the California coast kept calling. I left California twice, once to Phoenix for a year and once to Colorado for a year. In between those two adventures, I lived in Malibu. I found out later that I had lived in the same canyon Roger did. Our driveways looked at each other. I met his dog, but I never met him.

"In the fall of 1977, I sailed to Mexico with my brother and returned to Los Angeles on Jan. 1, 1978. As the airplane circled the hazy city, I looked out the window and had a strong sense that my life was about to change. I returned to the actor's workshop where I'd been studying, but I couldn't get comfortable, so I did what some undecided women do: I went to get my hair cut.

"I was a Sassoon house model and as I was hanging out, I met a lady who told me about a workshop she had just begun. I got the number, called for an audition and was doing a cold reading for Tracy Roberts the next day. She accepted me for her class and told me to come Tuesday night.

"There were five new students that Tuesday. I was the only female. After a few exercises, Tracy teamed me with a guy with long hair and loose fitting clothes. I'd become weary of being a hippie and the long hair didn't impress me.

"At this point in my life I had decided to either be serious about acting or starve. I quit my job with Playboy as a glorified waitress, AKA a 'Bunny,' landed a few commercials and true to my commitment to act or starve, I lost weight. I wanted my partner in the workshop to be serious. I asked him if he had ever worked professionally. He quietly replied, 'I was in Bob Dylan's movie, Renaldo and Clara.' I inwardly groaned, 'Oh no...he's a musician.' The last thing I wanted to do was to work with a musician. As we walked out to our cars, we arranged a meeting time to discuss the scene we were assigned to perform from the movie Bloom in Love. I noticed his license plates read BYRDS2.

"The next morning as I was talking on the telephone with Gregg, a friend from high school, I mentioned that I was doing a scene with someone who might have been the Byrds' manager. My reasoning was that if he'd been in the Byrds wouldn't his license plate read just "BYRDS?" I had no idea how one got personalized plates. Gregg asked me his name. I told him, 'Roger McGuinn.' He started to laugh, 'Camilla, he was the Byrds!'

"The next week during an exercise on stage, Roger's assignment was to convince me of something that I didn't want to do. We sat on two chairs facing the audience, and he began playing his guitar. He asked if I wanted a lesson. I wasn't happy that this rock star had already stolen the scene, so I wanted to make things uncomfortable for him. I told him of course I do. He then said, 'You'll have to cut your finger nails.' That wasn't a problem for me, so when he pulled his Swiss army knife from his belt holster, I presented him my left hand for a manicure. I smugly thought, 'He hasn't come up with a thing that I don't want to do.'

"He showed me some chords and encouraged me to try. After a few strums, he asked for the guitar back then played and sang a song. His scene stealing performance did not endear me to him at all. He was doing that musician thing. After his crooning he asked, 'Did you like that song?' I said, 'Not really.' 'Why not?' he asked. 'Its country and I'm not particularly fond of most country music,' I said. He then asked, 'But what did you think of the words?'

"Then it hit me. The song was ' I Like The Christian Life'(a song the Byrds had recorded.) He was going to try to convince me about the words that Jesus said. I retaliated with, 'How long have you been into Jesus?' 'A few months,' he replied. 'Well give it a few more, and you will get over it!' I responded. Then I left the stage in righteous indignation. The audience thought it reminded them of a dramatic scene from a Tennessee Williams play and spent a lot of time congratulating Roger.

"The story continued, but it wasn't Roger who got over Jesus. It was me who realized that Jesus is love and He spoke the truth. Within two months we felt that God's plan was for us to be married, and we were, on April 1, 1978. God does have a sense of humor. We laughingly tell people that Our Father arranged our marriage.

"McGuinn, Clark and Hillman were signed to Capitol Records, and I spent two years watching the workings of a band. One night during a candlelight dinner, Roger told me that he wasn't enjoying the music anymore with the band, and he had told Chris Hillman on the airplane on the way home that he was through. I asked him, 'How do you want to make music? What is your heart's desire?'

"He thought for a few minutes, and then began telling me about Ramblin' Jack Elliott. Jack had told him that the happiest touring he ever did was when he and his lady barnstormed the country with his guitar. That's what Roger wanted to do. He wanted to go back to his folk music roots, put the guitar in the car and show me America. He excitedly proclaimed, 'You can be the road manager!'

What makes a good tour manager?
They must have their priorities in order. The artist and the concert are the primary concerns. A tour manager must help the artist keep focused on the show. It's up to the tour manager to run interference for the artist from any distractions that will affect the performance. A smile, while shaking the head "no" to the many request for the artist's attention, accomplishes a lot. Attention to all the show details is very important. The stage setting, the lights, the sound and the comfort of the audience must be addressed at every venue.

As a roadie what gear do you carry on the road?
All the standard -- bottled water -- gold on the road; hand sanitizer -- Western society needs to get over the firm handshake custom -- bad for health and bad for guitar players fingers; flashlight; batteries; cell phone; computer etc. I also write the monthly blog for mcguinn.com so my Canon camera is always at my side.

What is the blog about?
While on tour in April 2005, Roger and I had a luncheon meeting with the executives of Sam Ash to help promote the 7-string guitar that Roger designed for Martin Guitar. I come from a family of story tellers and true to my nature, I monopolized much of the conversation with stories about our adventures on the road. Howie Mendelson, a Sam Ash vice-president, ended the lunch laughing and commented that I needed to write a blog. A couple of days later, we're having lunch with Ken Paulson, the editor of USA Today, and he too made the comment that I needed to write a blog. When we returned back to our hotel, Roger made the same comment. Three times within a week was enough, so I reluctantly said I would do it.

My reluctance was because my father was a career Navy man, and we moved every four years. I wasn't sure if I missed grammar classes or just daydreamed through them. I didn't know what conjugating a verb was until 11th grade while in my first year French class. I had to confess to my teacher that I didn't know what conjugating verbs entailed. She walked away from my desk shaking her head. I have plenty of confidence in telling stories but very little in writing them. The first blog I wrote was about the July 2005 Tour. Being concerned that my writing would be either boring or real stupid, I decided to post photos from our trip. Now I was not only a writer but a photographer, too. Two more hats to wear for the man I love.

I've enjoyed the process of the blog a lot more than I imagined I would. I'm always on the look out for photo opportunities, so we've stopped at some unusual places. The blog has also evolved into a biography of Roger. As we travel through or to a city, I interview him about the first time he was there. I hear stories from him that he had forgotten. Jim Dickson, the Byrds' original manager, read the blog and asked me to write about some of his memories. The history doesn't come with every blog, just when the situation awakens the memories.

Does the local crew let you carry the gear?
I insist the local crew carry the gear.

What is your preferred mode of transportation on the road?
In the late 90's we realized that flying with fragile musical instruments was too stressful and harmful so we informed Roger's booking agent that we would only be driving to concerts. We travel in a Ford Conversion Van. We're now driving our fourth one. Driving the roads of America is a wonderful experience and the configuration of the van - comfortable seats, a couch turned into a bunk, TV, DVD player and Internet access - makes the drive enjoyable. It's not unusual for us to drive across the country several times a year. We drive in hundred-mile shifts and stop as the sun sets. The need for a picture for the blog has encouraged us to stop and enjoy sights that we used to drive pass.

When we tour in Europe, our favorite form of transportation is the train using the BritRail Pass for the U.K. On the Continent, we enjoy renting a good car and seeing how fast we can comfortably drive.

What other tour duties do you do?
We call ourselves an old fashion mom and pop business. He does everything on stage, I do the rest.

What if anything do you have to do with Roger's recording?
Roger and I write songs together. We also produce, mix, design art work with the help of a real pro, and purvey all of his recording projects. It took a while for us to learn to work with each other without saying, "That's stupid!" Roger loves all the details of being his own record label. He often says, "They were having all the fun!" meaning the record companies. I also manage the phones, the press, the bookkeeping and the ladies who want to take Roger to tea.

We have released three CDs on April First Productions, our label:

1. Limited Edition, 2004 -- folk, blues and rock 'n' roll. One of my favorite tracks is the tribute to George Harrison -- "If I needed Someone." We recorded it in Nashville with John Jorgenson and Stan Lynch. Both of these wonderful musicians recorded with Roger on the first Byrd's box set and "Back From Rio."

2.The Folk Den Project, 2005. This was one big project. Roger wanted to celebrate 10 years of The Folk Den. It's his favorite project on mcguinn.com where he posts a traditional folk song each month for free download in order to help preserve the music. While mixing the 100 songs of this four CD set at Roger's side and proof reading the 40-page booklet at the Summit Road Studios in Parker, Colo. , I thought we might be nuts. Who was going to care about 100 folk songs? It turns out. A lot of people. Even Rolling Stone called it "...near perfect."

3.Live From Spain, 2006. Every Saturday morning when we're at home, we commit ourselves to creative Saturdays. Roger records and I usually work on the blog. One Saturday, I decided that a real creative thing to do would be to clean my desk. In the process, I found the master from a show in Spain. It was recorded for radio broadcast so the quality was exceptional for a live recording. I took it to Roger thinking we might use it for the APAP conference. He put it on and as I was walking out of his studio, I stopped in my tracks. It not only had a good sound, it was an unusual show. We decided to press it for the fans who have been asking me for a copy of Roger's concert. Roger's shows are all slightly different, but this one will bring back the memories.

First concert attended?
James Brown and The Temptations in Roanoke, Va., maybe in 1967. It was a sports venue. I only lived there a few years and I don't go back, so I doubt I ever knew the name of the arena.

First concert worked?
May 16, 1981, at the Aladdin Theater in Las Vegas as Roger McGuinn's tour manager. The promoter that night warned me about the pitfalls of gambling by telling me the story of Sammy Davis Jr., how he gambled his life away to the casinos. Mr. Davis had to work for them for years to pay off his debts. After telling me the story, he had two very large body guards escort me backstage and told them not to let me stop at the tables.

First industry job?
First and only: tour manager for Roger McGuinn.

Career highlights?
Co-producer with Roger for Roger McGuinn's "Treasures From The Folk Den" - 2001 Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Folk Album and co-producer with Roger for "Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair" from "Beautiful Dreamer" - 2004 Grammy Award winner for Best Traditional Folk Album.

Those things are what the industry calls highlights; my personal highlights are writing with Roger the songs, "May The Road Rise To Meet You" and "Without Your Love." Oh, one more: "The Trees Are All Gone" written while Al Gore was still burning electricity in the Senate building.

What did you get a Grammy for audio engineering on?"
"Beautiful Dreamer - The Songs of Stephen Foster," a compilation CD. Roger wrote that on my list of jobs -- a bit tongue in cheek. I was a co-producer on the track "Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair," but the people who compiled the CD and got to keep the trophy sent me a certificate for engineer. I don't know if that was because they didn't take me seriously or they just ran out of the certificates for producers.

Career disappointment?
Missing the Beach Boys tour in 1986. Roger was opening for them, and I was invited to join them on their BAC 111 private jet. I declined because I was committed to an acting workshop.

Greatest challenge?
Wondering how to get my big foot out of my mouth when I asked the gentleman sitting next to me at the after-show party for Dylan's' 30th Anniversary Concert, "Who are you?" It was Jann Wenner -Rolling Stone owner/editor.

Best business decision?
Encouraging Roger to pursue his dream.

Best advice you received?
Trust in God and have confidence.

Best advice to offer?
Trust in God and have confidence.

Mistakes you have learned from?
Hopefully all of them.

Can you give examples?
There have been so many. Why would I want to bore everyone with the details?

Most memorable industry experiences?
There are three real standouts, and I can't choose between them. The first occurred October 1987 at Wembley Arena in London. Roger was on stage singing the encore with Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. I was standing on the side of the stage beside George Harrison.

The second was the concert referred to as "Bobfest" by Neil Young -- the Bob Dylan: 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration, which took place in Madison Square Garden on Oct. 16, 1992. The show was great, but the sound check was awesome. Roger and I stood backstage watching the concert on a monitor and then watched each of the artists walk off stage after their performance. Eric Clapton was over the top.

The third was in the winter of 1994 at The Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C. Roger was asked to perform "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)" in honor of Pete Seeger. It was the most amazing weekend. Dinners at the State Department, reception at the White House and topped off with meeting Walter Cronkite. I told him, "I don't believe there are space aliens because if there were, they would have come down and contacted you." He shook my hand and said, "I like that." It is one of the few times I actually wanted my picture taken.

Favorite athlete?
Tiger Woods because of his concentration, his discipline and he is so cute.

Favorite restaurants?
This is a tough one. We travel so much, and there are wonderful restaurants everywhere, but I really enjoy going back to Minetta's Tavern in the Village in NYC. Not so much for the food but for the wonderful memories Roger and I have from there. Whenever friends join us for what we jokingly call the 60's tour of the Village, we always end up at Minetta's because that's where Roger would go in the 60's if he had some extra cash. My favorite memory there was the evening we asked Pete Seeger to join us between sound check and the show at the Bottom Line. It was like taking Santa Claus to dinner.

Favorite hotels?
I love The Ritz Carlton in San Francisco and the Peninsula in Beverly Hills because they park our Ford van right next to all the Rolls-Royce motor cars and do it with style. I love the Sheraton on The Hudson because the view of Manhattan is priceless, and the ferry ride to the city is an E ticket right out the front door!.

What friends would be surprised to learn about you?
My friends have ceased being surprised by me. Acquaintances usually drop their jaw if they find out I was the Phoenix Playboy Bunny of the Year one year in the '70s. That's a bunny - not a playmate!

Industry pet peeve?
Bogus royalty statements. I'm also Roger's bookkeeper.

If I wasn't doing this, I would be...?
I didn't plan on doing this, so only God knows if there was another plan.

Camilla can be reached at e-mail: mcguinnroadiereport@gmail.com

This has been a hectic month.Even though it is "Creative Saturday', I need to prepare for a trip around the world instead of writing. I get asked a lot of questions about my life with Roger and since I wrote all the answers to the questions in this interview, I thought this might tell some of the story. I posted this a few days early because we are now on our way to Japan for a Martin Guitar promotion. The long airplane ride will be a good opportunity to rest.

Roadie Report 30 - McGuinn and McGuire

2007-09-22T12:34:00.000-05:00

Beaufort, SC (photos by Camilla)
It’s time for our “creative Saturday” moments and I had planned to write about the concerts and the trip to Tarrytown, NY and Natick, MA. I'm always wont to use the photographs I take on the road to inspire the memories to spring forth. As I perused the pictures, I saw a photo with the view from our early evening dinner in Beaufort, SC. There was one of the bridges I’d crossed as a child. I was born in the Beaufort area, so was John Phillips of The Mamas and Papas.

Then there was a charming shot of a street in Tarrytown. Roger went to elementary school in that hamlet.

There were lots of things to write about, but as I browsed the library of photographs, the sound of music coming from Roger’s studio kept me smiling. That music became my inspiration. All of a sudden, I knew that I was going to write a little bit about history and a little bit about the future. The harmonies coming from the studio were the voices of Roger and an old friend who had come for a weekend visit. They were singing this months Folk Den song, “The Boll Weevil.”

1966

Barry McGuire was driving east on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood when he saw Jim McGuinn heading west with his radio blaring the sounds of the times. Catching a glimpse of each other, McGuire immediately pulled over to the curb and McGuinn made a wild u-turn and pulled up right behind him. They both jumped out of their cars and sat on the fender of Jim’s black caddie. Jim left his radio on.

He had a good reason to leave his radio blasting because many of his friends were in the top ten playlist.
Barry's song “Eve of Destruction” was a number one hit in 1965 and Jim’s group, the Byrds, was soaring, with “Mr.Tambourine Man ” and “Turn, Turn, Turn.” These two friends had made it to the top of the charts within months of each other and their spirits were flying as high as their songs.

Their laughter quieted for a moment when they recognized a tune coming over the radio. It was The Mamas and The Papas’, “Creeque Alley.” John Phillips had immortalized his two friends in the lyrics of the song: “McGuinn and McGuire still a-getting higher in L.A., you know where that’s at.”

When the song finished, Barry’s loud joyous belly laugh could be heard all the way to the beach. Jim suddenly stopped laughing, turned to Barry and asked, “Hey man, where is it at?” Barry shook his head and said, “I don’t know, man... I thought you did!”
Jim replied, "Well don't tell anybody we don't know! They all think we know where it's at!"

2007

More than 4o years later that friendship is still intact and even more amazing, they are both alive and they've finally discovered where it’s at!

The paths of McGuinn and McGuire took different turns in the road and now those turns have brought them back together. They are finally fulfilling a dream they once had – to make music with each other.

Barry came to Florida to have Roger sing and play on his "2.1" version of “Eve of Destruction.” It only took one evening for these two musicians to decide to take it on the road. Barry has been working with Terry Talbot (founder of the band Mason Proffit) for years, so it is a trio that is going to sing some old songs, sing some new songs and tell the stories of a generation on the stages of America.

Andrea Sabata, Roger’s booking agent, called and we excitedly told her to book a tour. We told her to call it McGuinn and McGuire with guest artist Terry Talbot.

Everyone has commitments until next October, but as my grandma used to say, “The Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise,” McGuinn and McGuire will be singing together- and you know where that’s at!

Roadie Report 29 - July 2007 - Roger's Bday and Concert in NJ, with John Sebastian

2007-08-11T12:31:00.000-05:00

Fernandina Beach, FL (Photo by Camilla)

There were two upcoming events that made driving out of our driveway a special adventure. We were on our way to Ocean City, New Jersey for a concert with John Sebastian as the co-bill. I have previously written about Roger’s first meetings with John and John’s influence on his life in Roadie Report 25. This was going to be one of those wonderful rock’n’roll re-unions. The other special event was the celebration of Roger’s 65th birthday.

We arrived in Fernandina Beach, on Amelia Island in FL just as the sun was setting on July 12th. In 1861, Fernandina Beach was the home of Florida’s First Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico railroad. The old train station is now the offices of the Chamber of Commerce. (Photo by Camilla) The town has the romantic architecture of the turn of the last century. It also has the beauty of sunrises and sunsets. There is just one small problem which has probably kept it from being Florida's northern Key West -–it is the home of a paper mill. We have been there only once when the acrid odor reached our senses, but the charm of the town outweighs the overwhelming presence of an industry that we all cavalierly use everyday.

Over the years, I have arranged a few large birthday celebrations for Roger, but his favorite celebrations are the ones where we quietly toast the day with a few friends or just the two of us. I felt 65 was a milestone, or at least if is with our government, so I searched the Internet to see if there was an unusual stopping place during our trek north on July 13th, the big day.

I considered taking him to my hometown of Beaufort, South Carolina. He has always enjoyed walking those streets, but as I was looking for a cozy but elegant setting, I found a plantation 30 minutes away from Charleston, in Summerville. I studied their web site and the when I saw the line, “A step ahead in luxury and a stepback in time,” I knew I had found the place to celebrate a romantic birthday evening, The Woodlands Resort and Inn.
Photos by Camilla

Afternoon tea was sent to us as we settled into our room. That of course, is ice-tea. We are in the South. A chilled bottle of wine was in the room and a sense of deja-vu. The armoire was of the same design as the one in our bedroom at home.

Roger checked the Internet access and I went to check the table for his birthday dinner. The dining room was lovely and the Maître de very accommodating. I chose the perfect table, then skipped backed to the room very excited about the upcoming evening.

I was right to be excited. The meal was amazing. The chef even prepared Roger one of his favorite dishes, even though it wasn’t on the menu.

Interstate 95 is a good road for the truckers to get where they need to be quickly, but when we have time, we like to leave that road for the truckers to enjoy. Our planned route was to head over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, up the DelMar Peninsula and catch the Cape May-Lewes Ferry to New Jersey.

The concert with Sebastian was part of a Summer Monday Night series held at the Ocean City Music Pier. The theater seats over 800 people. John and Roger’s show was the first sell-out of the Monday night series.

It didn’t matter to either Roger or John who opened the show, but John had a 4 hour drive after his performance, so he entertained the fired up audience first. John did stay awhile in order to join Roger with his harmonica for three songs: “You Got Me Running,” “St James Infirmary Blues" and “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” After the songs, John quietly slipped away into the night.

Later at the hotel, Roger and I were reminiscing about the concert and I mentioned to him that I noticed his performance had a slightly different relaxed attitude than the relaxed one I was used to seeing. He congratulated me on my perceptive observance then told me that he had sat on the side of the stage during John’s show. He was inspired by John’s amazing musicianship and his loving attitude towards the audience. I could tell that John’s inspiration was reflected in Roger’s performance. There is a proverb, "As iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens man.”

Tuesday morning, we drove to the Sheraton Suites On The Hudson in Weehauken, NJ. Gary Trust, from Billboard magazine, had emailed me earlier in the week and asked for a copy of “Live From Spain” for their archives. I told him that we would be happy to drop one by the office since Roger was scheduled to be in New York for an interview.

We caught the ferry right out the hotel door, stepped up onto the free Ferry Bus and got off three blocks from the Billboard offices. (We are big fans of public transportation when it works.) After chatting with the staff for a while, Roger looked at me and said, “Time to go.” I had forgotten to tell him, that Gary also took this opportunity to arrange an interview. I do need to remember that sometimes, Roger can’t read my mind.

While Roger was sequestered with Jonathan Cohen. Gary took me to the Billboard library.

Billboard magazine is a trade paper founded in 1894 for the billboard industry. It grew into one of the most important music industry trade papers. When an artist hits the top of the Billboard Charts, they are considered a success. Once that happens, the record company presidents sometimes take their calls. Gary invited me to view the original issues of the magazine.

The Billboard library is a small space with piles of the magazine piled in heaps on every available surface. The oldest copies are stored in heavy duty file cabinets. While Gary was busy looking for the early issue, my eyes glanced down at the bottom of the three foot stack of magazines that were next to me. Sticking out at an angle was a cover from June 1973 and I recognized a face on the cover. It was the album cover from Roger’s first solo album titled Roger McGuinn. The original photograph hangs on my office wall. I couldn’t talk for a moment while my mind went over the probability factor of me standing in that spot in the Billboard library, in the midst of hundreds of magazines and seeing the face of my husband. I pointed to the picture and asked Gary if he knew the person in that photograph. He didn’t. His mouth dropped too when I told him it was Roger.
( 1973 Billboard)
A short visit that happened just because of an email request, turned out to be a shot heard around the world. The interview went onto the web the next day and Roger’s quote about not wanting to do a ‘Byrds’ reunion was picked up by Rolling Stone and news outlets around the world. When the August 4, 2007 hard copy issue was released, on page 65 was a picture of Roger and the photo next to his was one of Diana Ross. She was in the photo next to Roger in the 1973 issue too. We didn’t notice that tidbit until I asked Roger to scan the cover for this blog. Some people would say this so called co-incidence was stranger than fiction, I say it was a smile from God.
(2007 Billboard)
Wednesday was another trip down memory lane for Roger. Bob Dylan’s “Rolling Thunder Review” was one of Roger’s all time favorite tours. Jeff Rosen asked Roger to come to New York and to spend a couple of hours talking on camera about that incredible “band of gypsies” that would slip secretly into a town and announce from a radio station, “there is a show in town tonight.”

The mirrored armoire in the hotel suite, the touching concert with John Sebastian, the jaw dropping events at Billboard, the memories of the visionary tour from our modern day Shakespeare were all beautiful wrappings for Roger’s birthday. But there was still one more ribbon.

We woke up early, planning to retrace our path back south. I didn’t make reservations for the Cape May-Lewes Ferry because I wasn’t sure when we would get to the terminal. Often during the 140 mile drive, Roger offered to drive, but I felt compelled to keep going and not to stop. I drove up to the ticket gate, handed the man my credit card and was told there might be room on the noon ferry, if not the next one was at 1pm.

There were a lot of cars towing big trailers. The traffic director approached our van with his walkie-talkie in hand, shaking his head, “The size of this van will probably keep you off this ferry.” We waited holding our breath. It was no big deal if we didn’t get on, but we were just one car away and our hope had flowered into childlike eager anticipation. I gnawed on my lower lip, then the walkie talkie crackled, “Send in the van.”
(The last place on the ferry!)

Tommy Makem Tribute

2007-08-03T11:11:00.000-05:00

Hi, this is Roger McGuinn.

I first heard Tommy Makem sing with the Clancy Brothers at the Gate of Horn in Chicago in 1958. He played the 5-string banjo like Pete Seeger and sang like nobody I'd ever heard. His enthusiasm was overwhelming! The punch he got on lyrics amazed me! It didn't matter what the song was about, Tommy devoured it and made it his own.

In 2001 I had the pleasure of recording with Tommy and his sons The Makem Brothers for my CD "Treasures From The Folk Den." We decided to sing "Finnegan's Wake" because it was one of the songs I'd heard him perform with the Clancy Brothers at the Gate of Horn.

Tommy passed away on August 1, 2007. We will all miss him and be grateful for his wonderful legacy of music.

Here's a video from the "Treasures From The Folk Den" recording sessions. Tommy's voice was so loud that he had to stand three feet from the microphone to blend with my vocal. I was just inches away from the mic.

Roadie Report 28 - June 2007 in NYC with The Rock Bottom Remainders

2007-07-28T12:57:00.000-05:00

Greg Iles, Stephen King and Roger at sound check. (Photo by Camilla)

The sound of the train speeding to New York City added to the excitement of our joining the Rock Bottom Remainders for their 15th “Still Younger Than Keith” Anniversary Tour. Webster Hall was hosting the charity event and the tickets were sold out. Over the last 15 years the band has raised over $ 1.5 million for various literacy charities. Just like the Astronauts, these authors have given of their time and money, to support and encourage young minds to expand into the inner depths of knowledge and creativity.

I wrote about the Remainders in the August 2006 BLOG, so I won’t go into the history of the group again, but for newcomers to mcguinn.com, I will reiterate a few points.

Kathi Kamen Goldmark, founder of the Rock Bottom Remainders (Photo by Roger)

This rock’n’roll group, The Rock Bottom Remainders, was the brainchild of Kathi Kamen Goldmark. While she was working with various writers on their promotional tours, she heard a common thread – they all secretly aspired to be rock stars. She took their secret dream and turned it into reality for a group of best selling authors including Amy Tan, Dave Barry, Roy Blount, Jr., Matt Groening, Ridley Pearson, and Stephen King. Mitch Albom, Greg Iles, Scott Turow and others joined in as soon as they found out they too could be “rock stars.”

Roger was invited to join them for one show in 2000. We had so much fun that the band hasn’t been able to hide from us since. Now as the train was speeding through the sultry South, we were laughing. We knew the fun was about to continue and all for a good cause.

Every time the band members are interviewed, they let Dave Barry make his humorous remarks about how inept they are as musicians. Roger is the voice that always refutes their deprecating humor, insisting they are good musicians….most of them. When the sound check ended at Webster Hall, Roger smiled and whispered to me, “They’ve been practicing!” The band always kept a beat because professional drummer Josh Kelly was the heartbeat, but this rehearsal had a tight groove. Maybe they were hoping to impress the new girl in the band, Lesley Gore.

The show was fun! It was the first time I had stood at the back of the stage looking out onto the faces in the audience. Watching the smiles and hearing the voices singing along with the all the songs, reminded me that music is a wonderful way to make people happy and to help them forget their troubles for a moment in time.

Our return train reservations to Orlando were for Sunday afternoon, so we had a day off in the city. When we have the occasional day off, we love to explore cities. New York is a great city - makes you want to put on your walking shoes.

New York City Dog in his walking shoes! (Photo by Camilla)

We began the day with an early lunch at the Italian Café Fiorello located on the West Side of Central Park. After lunch we walked through the park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art so we could visit the work of some of our favorite impressionist artists. On the walk, Roger realized that even though he had lived in New York, he had never traversed the park on foot. The weather was beautiful on this warm summer day. There were musicians playing, children dancing, baseballs flying, and a June bride gracefully walking in her flowing gown, gently holding the arm of her beloved. Central Park (photo by Camilla)

The rain began to pour when a taxi dropped us at our hotel. We enjoyed a quiet dinner at a nearby French sidewalk bistro while we watched raindrops create ripples in the puddles.

In the morning, I called Amtrak to confirm the departure time of our train. That was a very good idea. The night before a train had derailed and ours had been canceled. Amtrak reservations are very hard to get in the summer and we couldn't be rescheduled until Tuesday. We had to spend an extra day in New York City…oh shucks!

Minetta Tavern on MacDougal Street (Photo by Camilla)

On Monday we headed to Greenwich Village for lunch at Roger’s old haunt, Minetta Tavern. Later in the evening we joined Ted Habte-Gabr, the Remainders Tour Manager, for dinner at the Ethiopian restaurant, Ghenet in Little Italy. Ted knew just what to order- he spoke the language. New York City is better than Epcot Center for a quick trip around the world.

Roadie Report 27-Astronauts Hall of Fame by Camilla McGuinn

2007-06-30T11:07:00.000-05:00

Vehicle Assembly Building (photo by Camilla)

In 2004 Roger was invited to perform for the Astronauts Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The space program captured both Roger's and my attention from the first television broadcast of Alan Shepard’s flight as commander of Freedom 7 on May 5, 1961. His 15 minute, 28 seconds flight successfully put the first American in space and sent our young imaginations soaring.

When John Glenn orbited the earth in 1962 in the Friendship 7 spacecraft, Roger was working in Las Vegas. I was in Mrs. Ritter’s fourth grade class, sitting on the floor watching the black and white television that she had hauled into the classroom for her students to see history in the making. History was not only in the making, heroes were.

In 2004 we were both awestruck and nervous when faced with the reality of Roger performing for our heroes. We were invited for the whole weekend’s events and to join the astronauts at all the various functions. I have never found myself so speechless.

One of the songs Roger performed was “Draggin.” He thought that because so many of the astronauts were pilots that they might chuckle at the premise of two pilots racing across the USA in their jets. At the informal dinner the next night, we were sitting at the table with astronaut, Bob Crippen. Bob laughingly told us: "We used to do that! We really did race each other across the USA in our jets."

Linn LeBlanc, the executive director of the Astronauts Scholarship Program, has invited us to the all the ceremonies since 2004, but unfortunately we'd usually had concerts scheduled for the first weekend in May. This year was different! Our schedule was clear and we readily accepted the invitation.

(Photo by Camilla) May 4th was the gala dinner for the Astronaut inductees and the major fund raiser for the Astronauts Scholarship Program. We were invited to ride on the astronaut’s family bus from the hotel to the Apollo/Saturn Visitor Center. The tables were assigned and we were thrilled to find ourselves at Table 13, sitting next to Apollo 13, Astronaut Jim Lovell. It didn’t take long for my tongue to become untied, because Jim is one the sweetest men who ever circled the Earth. Through out the evening, Roger and I would give each other those, “I can’t believe this" looks every so often.(Photo by Camilla)

Jim was inquisitive about our work and when I told him that Roger is active in archiving Folk Music, he lit up. Folk music became our common bond and fortunately I had slipped two copies of “The Folk Den Project” into my suitcase. I knew from our last visit that this was the weekend of Scott Carpenter’s birthday and I had purposely brought a copy for him. Now I knew why I brought two copies. Roger gave Jim a copy the next night.

After the gala, we boarded the buses for the ride to the hotel. We decided to be “flies on the wall” and just soak in the wonderment of being around our heroes, so we went to the back of the bus. That night, at the back of the bus, we met one of the inductees into the Hall of Fame, Jeffrey Hoffman and his wife Barbara. I'm embarrassed to admit, that I didn’t recognize him but maybe that was a good thing. Barbara and I began talking like old friends and throughout the rest of the weekend we often sought each other out in the crowds. Jeffrey is now a professor at MIT and we’re looking forward to seeing them when Roger performs in Natick, Masschusetts in September.

(Photo by Camilla) Jeffrey is an astronomer who worked on the Hubble Space Telescope. They invited us to sit at their table for the last dinner of the weekend and I found myself asking deep questions - “Do you dream about space?” Roger’s questions were more technical and a bit deeper.

At the hotel the fun continued. Astronauts know how to have a good time. Maybe it's working in life and death situations that spur a desire to live every minute to the fullest. There was a hospitality suite for the group and we all gathered there each night after the official festivities. Roger brought his 7-string guitar.

Hoot Gibson playing the 7-string. (Photo by Karl Ronstrom)

Years ago, the working astronauts formed a band and named it “Max Q” after the term for the point of maximum dynamic pressure - the point at which aerodynamic stress on a spacecraft in atmospheric flight is maximized. Brewster Shaw and Hoot Gibson were members of the band and they shyly strummed Roger’s guitar for a few chords but quickly gave it back to him. I doubt Roger would give back the controls of a space craft so fast, but then again, they would never give them to him.

Scott Carpenter and Roger relaxing in the hospitality suite.(photo by Camilla)

Roger, John Glenn and Wally Shirra in 2004. (Photo by Camilla)

There was one person missing from the hospitality room – Wally Shirra, one of the original Mercury Seven Astronauts. We were looking forward to hearing his humorous stories again, but he died suddenly just a few days before this year’s induction ceremonies.
(Photo by Camilla)

A tour of Kennedy Space Center was arranged for the Astronauts and their families on Saturday morning. Roger and I took familiar seats in the back of the bus and found ourselves next to another inductee, Michael Coats. Michael is currently the Director of Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. He suggested we tour the VAB, Vehicle Assembly Building, where the space shuttle was being repaired after a recent hail storm caused major damage.

The experience of standing next to the space shuttle with astronauts that had flown in space, in the VAB has been added to our list of “some of the most memorable times in our lives.”
John Glenn and the McGuinns. One of the few times I wanted my picture taken!(Photo by the willing hands that I thrust my camera into.)

After the tour, we went to the Visitor Center for lunch and the induction ceremony. Before we were taken to our seats, Roger and I looked from the balcony of the VIP lounge were the luncheon had been served, at the people milling around the exhibits below. How blessed they were to explore these marvels of technology and to be next to people who were history makers.

The Astronauts Hall of Fame was the fruit of the Mercury Seven Foundation. Six original astronauts from Mercury Seven and Betty Grissom, the widow of Virgil (Gus) Grissom established the Astronaut Scholarship Program in 1984. They each contributed to seven scholarships of $1000 each for college students who exhibit motivation, imagination, and exceptional performance in the science or engineering field. The foundation now awards annually 19 scholarships each worth $10,000. To date, the foundation has awarded more than $2.3 million in scholarships to 211 deserving students. The Astronauts Hall of Fame not only recognizes the brave contributions of the astronauts who have changed our world, but also supports this foundation. Brave souls went to uncharted space. Many returned and those who returned have continued to help mankind with small steps to help others make large leaps.

Tickets to The Astronauts Hall of Fame induction are available to the public. Hope to see you there in the future!

Roadie Report 26-The Winter of 2007 by Camilla McGuinn

2007-05-26T11:56:00.000-05:00

For years we have eschewed the opportunity to drive north in February, but in 2007 we opened our schedule to driving everywhere in spite of the weather because the American roads are kept pretty clear during adverse weather conditions. We packed a couple of warm coats and we were ready for a winter adventure.

Our arrival in Fairfield, Ohio on February 2 was greeted with a blast of cold arctic air. Everyone was talking about the weather but the weather couldn't keep the fans at home. People remembering where they were in 1965 and people not even born then, warmed the Fairfield Community Arts Center.

Farm Niente was on our way home. Linda and Bill greeted us for an overnight reunion. It snowed that night and it was cold enough to crack the S.Pellegrino bottles in our van. Those winter coats were being put to good use.

The weather was warming up in March, so we thought the winter was going to sleep. While on our second winter adventure of the year, a surprise snow and sleet storm woke us up on Friday morning in Littleton, Massachusetts. I called the promoter and arranged for him to have someone pick us for the concert. The show was sold out and in spite of the icy roads, most of the seats were filled.

Snow was still coming down when I peeked out of the hotel window early Saturday morning. It looked peaceful, but we had hundreds of miles to drive before another concert that night. I put on my coat, pulled a hat over my ears and headed out the door to see if the van was buried in snow. It wasn’t buried, but I was sinking up to my knees in white powdery snowflakes.

While Roger was packing the guitars and equipment onto the hotel cart, I decided to shovel the snow. Amazingly, I had just bought a snow scrapper for the windshield that had a small shovel attached. For the first fifteen minutes I laughingly shoveled and enjoyed some else’s weather but it didn’t take long for me to quit seeing the humor in the situation. We had miles to go and the parking lot was much too big for me to shovel. Drastic measures became necessary. I went in search of the hotel maintenance office and pleaded for their snowplow to get us out of the parking lot.

Roger arrived with the equipment minutes before the snowplow. I left him to pack the van and I went to check out. When I got back to the van, we were ready to go. Even though the snow was unrelenting, we were on a mission to make it to Fairfield, NJ in time for our day-of-show lunch at 2pm. Our snow and mud caked van slid into an icy parking lot just in time for that welcomed meal.

We had a few days off before our next concert at Monmouth University in Long Branch, NJ. After we found a much-needed car wash that could handle our high-top van, we headed to the Sheraton On The Hudson to spend a few nights and to hop the ferry for some appointments in New York City.

While at the Sheraton, our first shipment of “Live From Spain” was delivered from Oasis CD Manufacturing to our hotel suite. Our record label’s (April First Productions) third CD is a live show which was recorded for radio broadcast from the Azkena Rock Festival in Vitoria-Gasteiz Spain on September 10, 2004. The master of the recording sat on my desk for over a year and it was during a “Creative Saturday” moment that I picked it up and took it to Roger’s studio for him to analyze. He immediately put it on and before I could get back to my office, I stopped, turned around, went back to his studio door and stood listening with my mouth slightly ajar. The recording is of a very high quality because it was for radio broadcast and the show has an interesting flair since Roger had targeted it for the Spanish audience. There is even a rare guitar solo on one of the songs. When we heard the solo, we simultaneously said, “I didn’t know that was there!”

Then the fun began. I called Oasis CD Manufacturing and arranged for quotes and a design team. Roger and I had the same vision for the cover - an Old World map of Spain with flames. The Internet and the wonderful art department at Oasis made it possible for the cover and contracts to be completed within the week. Roger asked me to write a Roadie Report about the trip to put on the inside cover and then with an overnight delivery of the master, the finished product was scheduled to be in our hands during the next tour. All I had left to do was to arrange the publishing licenses for wonderful songs written by Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Jacques Levy, Goffin and King, and other gifted writers.

We gave the first copy of "Live From Spain" to Roger’s son, Patrick, at dinner that night.

Roger was not only performing a concert at Monmouth University; he was also presenting a lecture about his experiences in musical history and about the advantages of computer recording. We went to West Longbranch a day early to sing some songs live on WBJB radio and to help with their fund raising. The weather was still cloudy and cold.

The sold out concert in Albany in the Swyer Theatre at The Egg, had a few technical problems before the show could begin. I seriously thought about beginning a career in comedy while we waited for the equipment to be fixed, but I could hear Roger's voice in the recesses of my mind calling with a Cuban accent, “Luu..cy! What are you doing?” The equipment got fixed just in the nick of time. Not only was the audience patient, they were appreciative.

The weather had cleared in the morning when we headed to Beacon, NY to Pete Seeger’s house for a BBC radio interview about the song, “Bells of Rhymney.” We drove past patches of ice banks along the long rutted driveway up to the Seeger home. Roger had recorded Pete at his mountain top house in 2000 for the Grammy nominated CD “Treasures From The Folk Den.” Walking through the front door into the arms of Toshi and Pete was like another homecoming.

Toshi and Pete Seeger found their mountain acres in 1949. They met in NYC at a square dance and because of empty pockets, they started looking north of the city for a place to live. They found their homestead and built their house with their own hands and with the help of everyone who came to visit. Pete tells of having a hammer ready for every pair of hands that shook his hand.

Pete told me that Toshi was the quintessential pioneer woman. With a baby on her hip, she would walk down to the creek for water. Her small frame stands taller than the highest mountain tree and she is my hero. As she was heating water for tea, I asked her if she still drove up the long steep, driveway to their house. She replied, “Everyday.” I mentioned I was glad to hear that because I wondered how long I would be able to drive the roads as Roger’s roadie. Toshi smiled and said emphatically, “ You will do it as long as you need to.”
Disciple and Teacher

We drove down the mountain and headed for Buffalo late that afternoon with our emotions deeply touched by two of the inspirations for both of our lives, Toshi and Peter Seeger.

Coxsackie, NY is home to another amazing couple, Mary and Bob Irwin. Bob and Roger met while working on the first Byrds Box Set in 1990. He and Mary formed Sundazed Music in 1989. The label is a meticulous labor of love. Bob loves music and searches for rare jewels to encase in supreme packaging from vinyl to compact disc. We stopped by for a quick hello which turned into a lunch that lasted all afternoon. By the time we left, Bob expressed a desire to package “Live From Spain” on vinyl. You never know what a day may bring forth.
Bob, Mary and Roger

A day off between concerts is always an opportunity to explore. Such were the days before the concert at Rockwell Hall on the Buffalo State College campus. We had visited Niagara Falls before, so while reading about the area, I discovered a small town called Niagara on the Lake in Canada. We set the GPS and found ourselves spending the day and evening in a charming quaint town surrounded by vineyards. We had no idea the Canadian wine country existed and we can’t wait for another opportunity to visit and thoroughly explore the area.

The previous time we were in Buffalo, Roger and I were walking through the Walden Galleria and heard the sound of a wonderful voice drifting our way. The mall was celebrating something, as malls often do, with a stage and music. An attractive woman was standing bravely on stage by herself singing her heart out to shoppers passing on their way. We stood by a store window and listened to her last song. Roger loved her voice. I approached her and asked her name and contact information telling her that my husband would someday like to have her as his opening act.

Later in the evening at Rockwell Hall, I mentioned to Jeff, the promoter, that Roger would like to have Maria Sebastian open for him the next time he played the venue. Jeff was familiar with Maria and made a note of Roger’s request. When this show was scheduled, Jeff arranged for Maria to be on the bill.

I opened The Buffalo News on March 30 looking for advertisements for Roger’s show. The headline that I saw on the front page of the entertainment section was, “THE WEEK: Maria Sebastian is a storyteller with a guitar.” Mark Sommer, a reporter we have worked with for years, interviewed Maria about how she became the opening act for Roger McGuinn. She told Mark about the day a woman approached her about opening for her husband but she didn’t recognize the musician's name. That night she Googled him and was shocked and embarrassed. She wasn’t the first one to be caught unaware by this quiet troubadour.

Maria was the sparkling local celebrity singing to happy hometown crowd at Rockwell Hall on March 30, 2007. Roger enjoyed listening to her through the speakers in his dressing room. I enjoyed musicians coming to my “lemonade stand” and letting me know when they would be performing at the mall. There were a lot of smiles leaving the venue that night.

The Buffalo show was followed by concerts in Indiana, Pennsylvania and the beautifully restored State Theater in State College, PA. It was at the State Theater that we celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary on April First. We enjoy celebrating special occasions while we are working at what we love. Mike Negra, director of the theater, and Wanda, his wife, filled the dressing room with special refreshments to take back to our hotel room for a wonderful quiet party after the concert .

We stopped in Hershey, PA on our way to The Barns at Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA. We often pass by the exit signs for Hershey and I had always thought of it as a tourist area built around a chocolate bar, but with a few days to get south, we decided to see if there was anything unusual about the town.

The Hershey Hotel is a grand old place, maybe a little too old. There was a mold problem, but we loved the view of the grounds from our room for one night. The hotel had a television channel continually playing the Biography Channel’s story of Milton Hershey. We were amazed at the heart of this man who built a city with chocolate. The model community he designed for his factory workers did not exploit them, but provided for their happiness and welfare. We wondered if Mr. Hershey inspired Walt Disney. Had Walt lived, would he have been able to make EPCOT a working living community just as Milton Hershey had done?

Driving through the town brought a smile to our faces. The lights that illuminate the streets are in the shape of Hershey Kisses. Chocolate Avenue meets Cocoa Avenue.

Our hotel room rate included tickets to the Hershey Gardens and to the Hershey Museum. It was too cold for the gardens, so we went to the museum. The town has a big amusement park but luckily for us it wasn’t the season to be open, so the traffic was very light on the small streets.

We also went to Chocolate World. I wanted to go into the factory, but that opportunity no longer exists. Chocolate World has a ride that takes you through a mock up of the factory. It spills you out into a store filled with all the chocolate Hershey makes and as I was typing this, I realized some of that chocolate was still in our refrigerator, calling for me to leave my computer and to share a bit of it with Roger. After all, “Creative Saturday” ends at 2pm.

All photos by Camilla McGuinn

If you enjoyed reading this - email the roadie at mcguinnroadiereport@gmail.com

Roadie Report 25- Jim McGuinn with Bobby Darin, Art & Paul, Judy Collins, Dion and John Sebastian in Greenwich Village in 1963 by Camilla McGuinn

2007-04-28T10:21:00.000-05:00

New York Library (photo by Camilla)

1963

It was a summer’s morning in 1963 when Jim McGuinn stood looking up at the number on the door of the Brill Building and comparing it with the address on the slip of paper Bobby Darin had given him. He wasn’t familiar with the history of the Brill Building at 1619 Broadway; it was just the place Bobby was setting up shop.

The building was constructed in 1931 and named after the haberdasher Morris Brill who owned the building’s ground floor clothing store. The Brill Building was the home of the publishers' empire, “Tin Pan Alley.” Publishers nurtured and owned the works of Gershwin, Joplin, Berlin and other prolific composers. These were the last days of the publishers' bastion and Jim was walking into those halls now graced with new writers: Neil Diamond, Burt Bacharach, Neil Sedaka, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Carole King and Gerry Goffin.

Mr. Darin had a large office at the south end of a hall where he talked on the telephone until lunch time. Then he would call his stable of writers out of their five by nine stalls to join him for cheeseburgers and Dr. Brown’s cream sodas. The nine to five work day for Jim was tedious compared to all the adventures he had enjoyed on the road.

Jim was instructed to listen to the radio and to emulate the songs he heard. He kept three radios playing tuned to the top three stations: 1010 Wins, WABC and WMCA. After listening to repeated hits by the Beach Boys, Jim teamed with Frank Gari and wrote a song they called, “Beach Ball.” When they played it for Bobby, he called the Brill Building demo studio and booked it that hour.

The three-track recorder was switched on while Bobby Darin played drums, Frank played piano and Jim played guitar. After the instrument track was recorded, all three stood around one microphone and sang the song in harmony. Capitol Records released the single under the group name, “The City Surfers.” None of these city boys had a love affair with a surfboard, but it was the wave of the times.

“Beach Ball” was played by the New York City radio stations, but it was a recording of it by Jimmy Hannan in Australia that sent the song to the top ten on the “Down Under” music charts. Harmonies on the song were sung by a group of brothers named Gibb. They later became known as the Bee Gees.

The Brill Building’s intense requirements for hit songs and its daily grind was stifling to Jim. It was the evenings in Greenwich Village that gave him a release and hope for his music. The Village was teeming with venues for musicians and comedians in which to practice their art. Café Wa?, The Gaslight, The Bitter End, Israel Young’s Folklore Center, The Village Gate and Gerdes Folk City were showcasing Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, Bob Dylan and the unofficial mayor of Greenwich Village, Dave Von Ronk.

The Café Playhouse was the venue for the unsigned itinerant musicians - John Sebastian, Richie Havens, Peter Tork, Tiny Tim - and that’s where Jim would go to get in front of an audience as Bobby had tutored him to do.

On November 22, 1963, Jim gathered with a group of friends at Bob Carey’s apartment and stared with shock at his black and white television while they listened to the news reports of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. In his grief, Jim turned to his source of comfort, a guitar. As he strummed the music to the old folk song “He Was A Friend of Mine” these words came to him as he sang:

He was a friend of mine
He was a friend of mine
His killing had no purpose
No reason, or rhyme
He was a friend of mine

He was in Dallas town
He was in Dallas town
From a sixth floor window
A gunner shot him down
He died in Dallas town

He never knew my name
He never knew my name
Though I never met him
I knew him just the same
Oh, he was a friend of mine

Leader of a nation for
Such a precious time
He was a friend of mine

He finished singing, laid down his guitar and held his aching head as tears dropped to the floor. Bob gave him a tranquilizer and told him to lie down.

In the morning, he walked the streets of the Village joining the wave of despair that had engulfed the City and the nation. He ended up sitting at the bar of Minetta’s Tavern, nursing a beer and thinking about meaning of his life. Folk music seemed more important than ever to him. Songs were still a way to carry the news, the pain and the hope of people. Songs were a way to make a difference and differences were on the way. Jim seldom went back to his stall in the Brill Building.

John Sebastian was born in New York City and raised on MacDougal Street. Jim and John applauded each other’s performances at the Café Playhouse – music was their bond.

One night in front of the Café Wa?, John showed Jim a pair of small oval-shaped sunglasses with cobalt blue lenses. John suggested he try them on and lift his eyes upward toward the streetlight. Jim loved the effect and vowed that as soon as he got some money he would get a pair with prescription lenses. At the moment, he was wearing only one contact lens. He had lost the other one and everything was very expensive to him.

Electra Records producer, Paul Rothchild would often scout the Village for new talent. Sebastian introduced him to Jim. Paul was impressed with Jim’s guitar technique and arranged for him to do some recording session work. One session was with the duo, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkle. They called themselves, Tom and Jerry. They had wanted to use their first names, Art and Paul, but Jim’s former Los Angeles roommate, Art Podel along with his partner Paul Potash had already taken the name.

Rothchild recommended Jim to Jac Holzman, the president of Electra, to play guitar and banjo on “Judy Collins #3” album.
Jim would go to Judy’s West Village apartment to work with her on arrangements before the studio time was booked for the recording. He arrived at her home always on time, wearing a suit and tie. Bobby Darin’s tutelage remained evident in Jim’s life. Judy, a consummate professional, was open to all Jim’s suggestions, which included non-traditional folk instruments such as cellos and strings. They were both influenced by Pete Seeger and working on Pete’s “Bells of Rhymney” and “Turn, Turn, Turn” was a treat for Jim. Jac Holzman and Judy gave Jim a “Musical Director” credit on the album.

This time in the village was a homeless one for Jim. He migrated from one friend’s apartment to another. One drifting night, he got off the bus near Washington Square and walked through the park to the Earl Hotel. The hotel was beautifully situated for a folk musician. The folk clubs were close and every Sunday the sounds of 5-string banjos, 12-string guitars, 6-string guitars, mandolins, fiddles and tambourines flowed around the circular fountain in the middle of the park.

Shawn Phillips, a folk singer from Texas, smiled at Jim as he struggled through the door into the lobby of the Earl Hotel burdened with his guitar, banjo, portable record player and suitcase. “Hey Jim, looks like you’ve got all your worldly possessions. Are ya checking in?”
“Thinking about it. Do you know how much the rooms are?”
“The one I just checked out of was three dollars a night and its got a great view of the park.”
“That sounds good. What’s the room number?”
“707, like the plane, man. I know you’ll like it. I was there for a month.”

Jim walked into room 707, laid down his gear and opened the window to let in the winter’s night air. He had given the hotel clerk half of all his money for the weekly rate of fifteen dollars.

Money wasn’t important to Jim – music was. He made a beeline to the record store on the corner of Eighth Street. He had to get the new album “Meet the Beatles,” and analyze their style as he had done years before with Elvis Presley, Bob Gibson, Scruggs and Flat, and Pete Seeger. He loved the sound of the Beatles because they were using folk music chord patterns with modal forth and fifth harmonies, and combining it with elements of jazz, blues, Bossa Nova and rock 'n' roll. He was amazed at their innovative approach to music and decided to incorporate their “Beatle Beat” into his folk repertoire, much to the chagrin of the Village folkies.

Joe Stevens, the proprietor of the Café Playhouse, offered Jim a steady job, which meant he got paid by passing his hat around to the customers. Joe liked Jim’s new musical style so he put a sign on the sidewalk - “Beatle Impressions.” Jim hated the sign but the gig sustained his room rent and his daily meal of a twenty-five cent piece of pizza.

Michelle and John Phillips lived in a suite at the Earl Hotel. Jim had met them a few years earlier in San Francisco, so it was natural to spend time in their suite sharing songs, drugs and their better view of Washington Square Park.

Bobby Darin was still watching out for his protégé and sent Dion Di Mucci to the Earl Hotel to audition Jim for his next touring band. Dion listened to Jim’s “Beatle Beat’ repertoire, then invited him to lunch. It was a welcome invitation. Food was always on Jim’s mind and seldom in his stomach.

They walked to Jim’s regular pizza stand on MacDougal Street and ordered two sausage sandwiches. Dion paid with a five-dollar bill. Five dollars was a lot of money to Jim and he thought that “Runaround Sue’ and “The Wanderer” must have made Dion rich.

Walking back to the hotel, Dion asked Jim, “What do you think it’s all about?”
“What do you mean?”
“Life. It isn’t about money and it isn’t about being a rock star. So what is it about?”
“Well… not sure. I don’t have money. I’ve never been a rock star. I don’t know, maybe it’s just about getting high.”
Dion paused, then said quietly, “Your style is really interesting and I think you should stick with it, but you’re not exactly what I need for this tour.”

The long winter was coming to an end and Jim was ready for a change when Bob Hippard called from Los Angeles. Bob was Hoyt Axton’s tour manager and he had convinced The Troubadour’s owner, Doug Weston, to let Jim open for the three week engagement of Axton and Roger Miller. Bob told Jim to get on the next plane to the coast and he would meet him at the airport. Jim had no money for the airplane ticket, so this time his parents fronted the cost.

Bob almost didn’t recognize Jim as he walked toward him from the airline gate. This 21 year old who had toured two continents, played Carnegie Hall, been on national television, performed with world renowned musical artists, recorded on hit records now looked like a vagabond. His hair was long and combed forward, his big black crumpled raincoat looked huge over his thin frame and his pale skin was a sharp contrast to the warm southern California sun … but there was a glint of expectation in his eyes and in his walk.

2006

We did what tourist always do in New York City on Thanksgiving. The night before we made a pilgrimage to watch the parade balloons blow up to the size of small buildings.
The next morning, we braved the wind and cold to watch the parade from a sidewalk covered with a sea of umbrellas. We then found warmth and shelter in two different restaurants - one for appetizers and one for the tradional meal. Patrick, Roger's son and New York resident, joined us and we all ate more food than we should have before catching the ferry back to our hotel.

The photos of the venues and parade were taken in 2006 by Camilla

Roadie Report 24 - Bobby Darin by Camilla McGuinn

2007-03-10T14:22:00.000-05:00

Photo by Camilla

We had a week to unpack and answer a month's worth of mail before we hit the road again. On November 17, Roger was scheduled to perform at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA on the same bill with the legendary Doc Watson. Nothing like playing on the same stage graced by a legend, to get your adrenaline pumping. We were both excited all evening. I was delighted to hear people tell me after Roger’s show how surprised they were at his guitar technique. The audience was packed with Watson fans who came to see the fingers fly.

Saturday night we spent a quiet evening with our friends, John and Mary Ann, then arose early Sunday morning for a trip to New York City. Roger had an interview with Dave Marsh on Sirius radio. It was so close to Thanksgiving and because of the heavy seasonal traffic, we decided to stay and enjoy the holiday atmosphere of the City.

Dave Marsh and Roger at Sirius Radio. Photo by Camilla

One of our favorite hotels is the Sheraton On The Hudson in Weehawken, NJ. The view of Manhattan from this all suite hotel is incredible and when you want to go to the City, the ferry is easy to catch - right out the front door. The ferry docks after an enjoyable 10 minute cruise across the Hudson River at the West 39th St. terminal where there are free buses to transport you all around town. It is a real Epcot Center adventure - in the old days, I would have said it was an “E” ticket. Thanksgiving spent in New York is so much fun that we invited our friends to join us there for the celebration. Michael, the hotel concierge, arranged for us all to have rooms close together.

The view of the Ferry and City from our hotel room. Photo by Camilla

Two of our friends, Pat and Theresa, arrived earlier than the others because we promised them a “Roger McGuinn's 60’s Flash Back Tour of Greenwich Village.” On Tuesday morning, we all boarded the ferry and Roger began telling the story of how he ended up living in Greenwich Village.

1962

After The Chad Mitchell Trio finished their opening show for Lenny Bruce at the Crescendo, Jim ( Roger) stood backstage smoking a cigarette leaning against the wall in the hall. Two men approached him and the shorter one began the conversation. “I’m Bobby Darin. This is Steve Blauder my manager. I liked your act up there tonight kid. Can you sing harmony?

Jim nodded.

How would you like to work for me?

“Well, I’ve been thinking about joining the New Christie Minstrels.” Jim replied as he slowly stood a little straighter and lowered his cigarette behind his back.

Bobby shook his head, “You don’t want to do that. You’ll get buried in a group that size. How much are these guys paying you?”

Jim felt like a kid talking to the principal so he reluctantly told him, “Two fifty a week.”

“I’ll double it.” Bobby said very pragmatically.

It didn’t take long for Jim to realize that he was standing in front of “The Bobby Darin” who had just offered him a job for a lot of money. He dropped his cigarette on the floor, extinguished it with his foot, looked Bobby in the eye and asked, “When do I start?”

“Be at my house tomorrow morning at seven. Steve will give you directions.” Then Mr. Darin turned and walked away.

Jim walked in the front door of the house he was sharing with Art Podell and was handed a joint by Bob Hippard. Jim got a beer from the sparsely stocked refrigerator then joined them in the haze of smoke. Later they remembered Jim had been working that night so they asked about his gig. He told them about the Bobby Darin conversation. As he talked it all seemed unreal to him, especially the 7am directive to be at Bobby’s house. It was already past midnight and he usually watched the sun rise in the eastern sky before he closed his eyes for dreamland.

Art didn’t like the idea and kept reminding Jim that he’d joined the Christie Minstrels for the cover photo of TV guide. Bob took a different approached and encouraged Jim to go bed and to get up early. This opportunity was too good for a nineteen year old musician to sleep through.

Jim knocked on the door of Darin’s Sunset Plaza Drive house promptly at seven in the morning. Bobby opened the door, dressed like a business man, and directed Jim to the dining room. His authoritative manner made Jim feel very young even though Bobby was only a few years older.

Bobby told Jim to help himself to coffee and sweet rolls, then disappeared. The coffee was what Jim craved but it added to his apprehension. He didn’t dare move from the dining room, but he kept his eyes glued through the door to the rest of the house. Sandra Dee, Bobby’s pretty young wife, walked through the living room wearing a red sweatshirt and white shorts, obviously oblivious to the guest staring at her. Finally Bobby returned.

“Okay, Jim, this is what I want you to do. I’m going to add a folk segment to my show. I’ll do fifteen minutes with the band then I’ll bring you out. Then just the two of us will do a couple of folk songs. You’ll sing harmony and play your 12-string. You even get your own spotlight. We start rehearsals at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas next week. Charlie Mafia will take care of all the arrangements. Write your phone number on that pad over there.”

Jim was stunned. He had brought his guitar to the house for what he thought would be an audition and walked out feeling like he had just been adopted by a rich godfather.

A week later, Jim boarded a plane with Bobby’s rhythm section bound for Las Vegas. He was still the youngest musician in the band but he had worked Vegas before with the Chad Mitchell Trio, so he had a little confidence. Rehearsals with Bobby were on time and intense. Darin was a perfectionist who didn’t tolerate sloppy habits. Jim was always on time with his black mohair suit pressed, his shoes shined and his guitar tuned.

On opening night, just before he was about to walk on stage and join Bobby, stage fright tapped Jim on the shoulder. He checked his guitar tuning and was horrified at the out of pitch strings. His nerves were distorting his sense of pitch and he frantically tried to get the 12-strings in tune before his entrance. Bobby began taking off his jacket, which was the cue to walk onto the dark stage. Jim tentatively moved to the center stage microphone and began playing “It Makes A long Time Man Feel Bad.” Miraculously the guitar was in tune. The song’s opening lick was fast and intricate. It required so much total concentration that the “stage fright monster” was forced out the back door.

Bobby walked over to his microphone. Two spotlights illuminated the two lone figures on stage as they sang the song together. Jim’s dream of singing and playing as a professional entertainer came to fruition that night. The audience exploded into applause.

In the audience that night, Sandra Dee was sitting with Peter Fonda, her co-star in “Tammy and the Doctor.” I wrote about that meeting in Roadie Report 8.

Jim became Bobby’s apprentice and followed him everywhere. Bobby was very generous with his mentoring and Jim wanted to know everything Bobby knew - from performing to everyday living. Bobby was always on the search for talent and Jim tagged along the night Darin saw the Newton brothers in a hotel lounge. Bobby told Jim that he was impressed with Wayne, but not the combination with the brothers.

Darin told Jim that the most important thing about performing was to get in front of an audience every chance you could. He said it didn’t matter how good you were in front of your mirror at home, you had to test it under fire. He also told him that the future was in rock ‘n’ roll.

Returning to Las Vegas as part of Bobby Darin’s show elevated Jim from accompanist to performer. One night after the Flamingo show, Jim went over to the Sahara to see Don Rickles’ show. Don recognized him and decided Jim would be a good recipient of one of his famous insults. “There’s a kid back there who works for Bobby Darin. He’s been in the business about two weeks and he goes around saying ‘I’m a star, I’m a star!’” Darin’s spotlight on Jim had brought him into the big arena.

Bobbie was very disappointed in Jim when he turned down the role of the banjo playing character in Jackie Cooper’s “Petticoat Junction.” Jim couldn’t see himself playing a Hollywood hillbilly. Bobby also gave Jim a lecture about showmanship. One night, after Jim’s part in the show, he joined his friends at a table to watch the rest of Bobby’s act. They had a riotous good time and Bobby noticed. After the show, Charlie Mafia, tapped Jim on the shoulder and told him to report to Bobby’s dressing room. Before he got in the door, Bobbie was yelling, “While I was on stage you were laughing and talking. You were showing me no respect!” It was a lesson Jim never forgot and to this day he is very careful when he is a member of an audience. He always listens and says very few words while someone is performing.

Jim toured with Bobby until the doctors told Darin he needed to slow down because of his heart condition. Trying to slow Bobby Darin down was like trying to stop a train. He needed to be working so he decided to move to New York City to concentrate on his publishing company, TM Music. He invited “skinny mcguinny”, his moniker for Jim, to join him in the famed Brill Building for the guaranteed fee of $35 week.

Bobby pointed out that even though it was a big cut in pay, he could do session work and play the folk clubs in the Village. “ You can buy a lot of cheeseburgers.” Those words were the only encouragement Bobby gave him to take the job. Once again, Jim took the job offered to him and Bobby Darin payed for his airplane ticket to New York City.

2006
Just as Roger finished telling the story of how he ended up living in the Village, the Ferry Bus stopped at Minetta Lane and the memories continued as we walked the tree line streets.

To be continued….
Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. Photo by Camilla

Roadie Report 23 - The United Kingdom and "Crowded House" Flash Back by Camilla McGuinn

2007-02-17T14:35:00.000-05:00

Bristol,England (photo by Camilla)

The first UK show was at The Coliseum near Aberdare, Wales. It is 23 miles from Cardiff so Steve Walker, the CMP rep/tour manager, picked us up at the Cardiff Hilton at 4pm. Steve has been working with us on every tour to the UK since 1997. His capable hand makes touring in the UK a delightful, stress free adventure. We of course ran into traffic - the world’s afternoon traffic starts at 4pm - but it gave us time to catch up on Steve’s life in Australia and the antics of Gemma, his daughter. He flies to England once a year to work with the CMP concerts.

At the theater we had our first meeting with Jade Gallagher. CMP had sent me the “MySpace” links of two performers they wanted Roger to consider for his opening act. I went to Jade’s site first and knew she was the one Roger would choose. She has not only a beautiful voice - she is gorgeous.

This was Jade’s first national tour and her enthusiasm and that of her producer, Guy was a delightful fresh breeze. We quickly developed an after-show pattern: while Steve was packing the equipment, Jade and Guy would come to Roger’s dressing room and share our Champagne which the promoter always so graciously provided. We would spend about half an hour sharing stories and road experiences. It reminded me of a tour that we’d done with Crowded House in 1989.

1989
Crowded House was on tour after the release of their “Temple of Low Men” recording. Their manager suggested Roger as their support act for the West Coast concerts. Elizabeth Rush, Roger’s agent at the time, negotiated for us to ride on their tour bus with them. It was a bit awkward going into the situation because none of us had ever met and their tour manager wasn’t sure he wanted to share their bus with us. I talked to him for a while, and told him that Roger always has a relaxed attitude and that we didn’t need bunks on the bus since there was only one overnight trip and we would be fine on the couches.

We flew to Vancouver and met the group for the first time at sound check. After Roger’s sound check, all three of them approached Roger and asked if they could play on the BYRDS’ songs. I pointed out that if they joined Roger that early, they would be dissipating their own entrance for their show. They didn’t care one bit - they wanted to play with Roger. Every night they joined Roger on stage with the precision of master musicians. I recorded the shows on cassette. At the last concert, while their Capitol records A&R man was talking with me, I took the earphones from my Walkman Pro, placed them on his head and said, “Listen to this.” I watched his face as he listened and his eyes almost jumped out of their sockets. Capital released my cassette recording of Roger and Crowded House.

Capitol Records never paid any royalties to us and knowing record companies, they probably didn’t to Crowded House either, but it was magical and I’m glad some people have a copy of that piece of history.

Neil Finn, Nick Seymour and Paul Hester performed one of the best high-energy shows I have ever seen. Roger and I would sit on the side of the stage, sip some Champagne and be thoroughly entertained by a different show every night. Their love of the music and the fun they were having, spilled over onto the audience and onto the equipment box we were sitting on.

Other magical moments of that tour were on the tour bus. When we boarded the bus the morning after the Vancouver concert, the group pointed us in the direction of the back suite. This is the primo property of a tour bus and they had decided that it was to be Roger’s. We were overwhelmed. During the drives we spent a lot of the time in the front of the bus getting to know the group. It didn’t take long for us all to become very comfortable with each other and then the fun began. The conversations were filled with so much witty repartee, my head was spinning from all the puns. Then the quiet moments would begin. Neil would ask Roger a musical question, then a Byrds’ question and then a 60’s question. The banter between Nick, Paul and Neil would cease as they reverently listened to the music sage answer their deeply inquiring questions of the times and music of the 60’s decade. I enjoyed watching their faces and wondered if my face still showed excitement when I was in the presence of someone who had made an impact on my life. As I write this I realize that these guys made a big impact on our lives. I was probably sadder when they disbanded than when the Beatles did and I'm thankful we will always have the memories of that magical tour in 1989.

2006
Steve drove us back to Cardiff after the concert and in the morning we boarded the train to Preston. We had asked Nick, Roger’s agent, to have CMP arrange the tour schedule with concerts two days in a row and then one day off. We wanted to have time to enjoy our work and not become exhausted.

After Preston, we had a day off. Glasgow was only a few hours away by train, just enough time for a picnic on the train. Our Glasgow hotel, The Carlton George, was close to the train station. I chose that hotel because it is in the middle of the town, on the square. Glasgow is a fun town! On one of the streets there is a very large statue of a unicorn which has always had an orange traffic cone on its horn every time we’ve seen it. I’m told that the authorities take down the cone, and sometime during the wee hours of the morning, it’s mysteriously put back.

From Glasgow, we trained to Newcastle where Roger performed at the beautiful new concert hall, The Sage. We only spent one night in Newcastle, then caught the train to Cheltham to spend two nights at the charming inn, Hotel on The Park.(Photo-The Hotel on the Park) We arrived in time for dinner in their intimate restaurant, Parkers, and decided to have lunch there the next day prior to the concert.

The small restaurant was full when we went down for lunch at 1:30pm. There was a group of ladies with a small baby celebrating something and I knew that the setting would not be conducive for us to work on the song list for that night’s concert, so I asked the waiter if he could find us a quiet place for lunch. He invited us into the library and arranged the coffee table for our service.(Photo-The Library at the Hotel on The Park)) After we discussed the night’s songs and were waiting for our food, my eyes glanced at the bookshelf next to me and rested on the Charles Dickens' book “A Tale of Two Cities.” It had been required High School reading but when I slid the book out of its place, opened the first page and started reading it aloud to Roger, the creative work of the author painted a new vivid picture of another time. The weather outside was overcast, the library was quiet except for the sound of my voice and we were engrossed in a classic story written over a hundred years ago by an English author. We had forgotten our stomach’s hunger and had developed a renewed hunger for this story.

Our food arrived and I reluctantly put the book back on the shelf, but Roger told me not to worry- it is a public domain story and he would download it from the University of North Carolinas’ web site, ibiblio , the site which host his web site, mcguinn.com and the Folk Den. The book can be found at ibiblio Favorites: Project Gutenberg.

Roger had a concert on the day of my birthday in Basingstoke. I am very fond of working on special occasions because we love our work and there is no better way to celebrate. When Roger sang the last encore song we went to his dressing room where we were surprised with balloons, banners and gifts from Steve, Jade and Guy. I was touched that they'd taken time out of their tight travel schedule to buy and prepare a surprise for me.

My private celebration for turning the blessed age of five and fifty was enjoyed at the Forbury Hotel in Reading, UK. We had three nights in this wonderful hotel. It rained all three days, but we didn’t care. Our room was cozy, the hotel’s restaurant was wonderful and each evening after the concerts, I read to Roger “A Tale of Two Cites” by the glow of the fireplace and the computer screen.

From October 23- 27, I was able to position us in Manchester and have Steve drive us to the surrounding towns for the concerts. We stayed in a very modern hotel, which was a sharp contrast from the Forbury Hotel, but our room had a great view and we were within walking distance to some wonderful restaurants. Everyday we found another culinary delight for lunch simply by walking around the neighborhood.

(1.The view from our room. 2.The Manchester City Hall)

After the 5-day stay in Manchester, the tour was winding down, just three more concerts and we didn’t want it to stop. The last concert was in London - a great city to finish a UK tour. We stayed at a townhouse hotel on Beaufort Gardens, a side street just around the corner from Harrods and a favorite restaurant, Patara Thai Cuisine. It had been the most relaxing tour of the UK that we had ever experienced. The enthusiastic audiences in beautiful concert theaters, Nick Peel’s and CMP's diligent scheduling, the picnics on the trains, the hotels, Jade’s beautiful performances and Steve’s steady hand painted a picture of perfection and we even had time to picnic on the trains and to smell the roses.
(Picnics on the trains)

All photos by Camilla McGuinn

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Roadie Report 22 - Germany, Denmark & Cardiff by Camilla McGuinn

2007-01-27T15:31:00.000-05:00

Danish Street (photo by Camilla)

The German autobahn is a delightful roadway on which to put the pedal to the metal. The drivers keep a safe distance and only drive in the passing lane when they are passing. Some of them are passing all the time - at about 200 mph.

Roger found a comfortable speed at 200klm/h, I found one at 160klm/h. The roads are in very good condition but we found ourselves laughing, “The good news is you can go as fast as you want. The bad news is – you can’t!" There was road construction every 50 miles. The GPS had a great feature. It would pick up on traffic jams and tell us in a very refined voice, “Traffic ahead. Recalculating route. Thanks to the GPS, we can say that we drove the country roads of Germany.

Le Meridian Hotel in Hamburg is a few blocks away from Lange Reihe, the restaurant row of the neighborhood. We strolled down the street, peering in the restaurant windows looking more for ambiance than for food. Our knowledge of the German language was rusty, so we were hoping that when we found the right lighting and tablecloths, there would be a helpful waiter. It didn’t take long before I saw the table I wanted to sit at for the evening’s feast. It was a corner table, by the window in an Italian restaurant, Casa Di Roma. There was a good chance we might be able to decipher something on an Italian menu written in German.

The first person to greet us inside the restaurant door didn’t want to seat us at the table I wanted, but a more authoritative gentleman saw our reluctance to follow the greeter and came to our rescue. He returned my smile and guided us to the prize spot in the restaurant. As he seated us, I asked in my best English, “Do you take credit cards?” “ Of course Madame.” he replied in better English. He was our table captain for the evening and it was not only romantic, it was delicious.

My original plan for travel to Copenhagen was to take the ferry, but the GPS knew that the new bridge connecting the islands of Denmark was the faster way to go. The big new bridge is a toll bridge and I only slightly panicked when I realized I was going to have to choose the right lane to get into and how to pay. We ended up in a credit card only lane and thankfully it accepted our card.
We didn’t have a clue how much the toll was until we checked our card statement later in the week. It was almost $35.

The concert promoters in Denmark arranged the hotels and the majority of them were very good. Most of them were close to the downtown areas which made it easy to discover the charm of the cities. The streets of Esbjerg, Denmark (photo by Camilla)

In Copenhagen the Danish agent, Bent, arranged a radio interview for Roger. He emailed me that Robin Cox, the interviewer, would meet us at our hotel and guide us on a 30 minute drive to Roskilde. Then he told me Robin is blind. I started shaking my head. So we were going to have a blind guide. Hmm, sounded like a case of the blind leading the blind. I emailed back and asked if that seemed strange to anyone? In the end, Robin and a sighted friend of his picked us up at the hotel and drove us to Roskilde.

Robin is a fascinating gentleman with an incredible radio voice. His father is English, so his accent sounds like a very proper 1940’s English actor. When he mentioned that he had read mcguinn.com the night before, I started shaking my head again, “You just said you read Roger’s web page. How did you read it?” He explained that he had a machine that read for him. I wanted to turn the interview into questions for him.

On the ride back to the hotel, he was very open to answer all my questions. He told me about his life long blindness and that it has never stopped him from pursuing his dreams. He navigates all around Denmark using public transportation, a cane and the kindness of the wonderful people of the land.

Even though the official language of the people in the Kingdom of Denmark is Danish, the majority of the people also speak English. Everyone explained to us that they are a small nation of about 5 million people and they can’t expect people to learn their language, so they learn other languages. It made communicating with everyone very easy but all the signs are in Danish. We had trouble parking the car in a self pay lot, using self-service gas stations and we couldn’t read the road signs. We would have been real lost without a GPS and the kindness of others.

Time for a romantic lunch (photo by Camilla)

Roger’s concerts were scheduled for every other day. That is dream scheduling for a singer and for traveling. Our longest drive within Denmark didn’t take longer than 4 hours, so we had the time to explore each of the cities, visit the food markets and have romantic meals. It was fun to walk the streets of the nation of Roger’s mother’s grandparents, the Heyns.

The last Danish concert was in the very small town of Aarup. A group of music lovers had banded together, and with the help of the government, restored an old theater so they could bring live music to their tiny town. The only hotel on the main street didn’t have private baths, so we stayed in the town of Middlefart at the Hotel KongebroGaarden. We were told that Sir Paul McCartney had once rented the whole hotel for his tour. Fortunately, Roger was the only artist appearing locally, so they had a room available.The view on the pathway from the hotel into the town of Middlefart, (photo by Camilla)

The day after the concert, we hit the road early because we had over 500 miles to drive. We needed to turn in our rental car before the Sixt Rental desk closed at the hotel in Brussels at 6pm. Since we were once again driving through Germany, we could quickly make the trip. Roger did complain that I hogged most of the Autobahn driving on the way back to Brussels. I had developed a need for speed.

On October 11, we caught the Eurostar from Brussels to London’s Waterloo Station, hailed a taxi to the London Paddington train station, had our BritRail passes stamped and boarded a First Great Western train to Cardiff, Wales.

In our possession was a bottle of Champagne that the porters on the Eurostar had given me as a souvenir. After lunch on the Eurostar, I explored the train and spent a lot of time talking with the porters and inquiring about their lives. When we stepped off the train, our porter whispered to me that I should go to the other car because there was a present for us. My new friends wanted to send us away with a gift.

I love the train trip from London to Cardiff. Wales is the land of all the cities of the song “The Bells of Rhymney.” I always feel like I’m coming back to a very familiar setting because the song is one of Roger’s favorites and he loves to sing it in his concerts. My favorite memory of the song is the night he sang it at the Bottom Line in NYC for a songwriter’s showcase. Allan Pepper, the owner, asked me if Roger would participate in this event and I told Allan if he could get Pete Seeger to do it, then Roger would. A few days later Allan excitedly called me and said Pete said, “yes!” The showcase featured Pete Seeger, Joe South, Ted Hawkins and Roger. At the end of the second show that night, the moderator, Vin Scelsa, asked Roger to sing a song he wished he had written. During the first show Roger sang, “Turn, Turn, Turn” but this time he sang Pete’s song, “Bells of Rhymney”. After the show, Pete came to Roger’s dressing room, stood at the door and said, “ Bells of Rhymney”…I’ve never heard it sung so well.”

Tears flooded our eyes as Pete turned and walked away.

The postcard Pete sent to Roger after the Bottom Line show. The last line mentions "Bells of Rhymney" -Bells of R

If you enjoyed reading this - email the roadie at roadiereport@folkden.com